Yoon Ji-hwan and Kim Seung-won Win Bronze Medals in Men's and Women's 50m Backstroke

South Korean male backstroker Yoon Ji-hwan (Gangwon State Government) has earned a valuable bronze medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Yoon touched the pad in 24.54 seconds to finish third in the men's 50m backstroke final held today at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan.

Starting from lane 5, Yoon made a fast entry with a reaction time of 0.56 seconds. After a fierce battle for the medals, he edged out fourth-place Stefan Goncharov of Bahrain (24.92 seconds) by 0.38 seconds to secure the bronze.

The gold and silver medals in this event both went to China.

China's Xu Jiayu, the Asian record holder, claimed the top spot by setting a new tournament record of 24.04 seconds, capturing his second gold medal following his victory in the 100m backstroke yesterday.

Xu shaved 0.24 seconds off the previous tournament record of 24.28 seconds set by Japan's Koga Junya at the 2014 Incheon Games.

The silver medal went to Wang Zicheng of China, who clocked 24.49 seconds.

Shortly after, in the women's 50m backstroke final, South Korean promising female backstroker Kim Seung-won (Gyeonggi Sports High School) added another bronze medal.

Kim touched the pad in 27.72 seconds to finish in third place.

Racing from lane 5, Kim started with a quick reaction time of 0.56 seconds, closely pursuing the frontrunners to step onto the podium.

The gold medal in this event was claimed by Wan Letian of China with a time of 27.47 seconds.

The silver medal also went to China's Wang Xueer (27.66 seconds).

Lee Eun-ji (Gangwon State Sports Council), who competed alongside them, finished 7th with a time of 28.53 seconds.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.