A Thrilling 0.255-Second Victory... Beating China in a Golden Race

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The national canoeing team also delivered a golden performance. In the men's kayak four 500-meter final, they edged past China after a fierce battle to claim the event's first-ever gold medal.

Jeon Yeongmin reports from the scene.

[Reporter]

The Korean canoeing powerhouse team—consisting of Cho Gwang-hee, Kim Hyo-bin, Jang Sang-won, and Choi Min-gyu—started in lane four of the 500-meter final. They passed the 250-meter mark in first place by a razor-thin margin of 0.04 seconds ahead of China in the adjacent lane.

The fierce battle continued into the second half, but maintaining flawless teamwork until the end, our team outpaced China by a 0.255-second difference to cross the finish line first.

Having won silver medals in two consecutive editions in 2018 and 2023, the national team climbed to the highest step of the podium for the first time in this event.

[Kim Hyo-bin / National Canoe Team: I am so happy to win the gold medal. I think knowing that this is the first K4 gold medal in Korean history gives me an even greater sense of pride.]

Cho Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin will challenge for another gold medal tomorrow, September 25, in the men's kayak double 500m.

In the mixed team skeet shooting event, Jang Guk-hee and Lee Jong-jun secured the silver medal.

After passing the preliminaries in second place and engaging in a tight contest with China in the final, they fell just one point short against China, which broke the world record by five points, settling for South Korea's first-ever Asian Games medal in this event.

[Lee Jong-jun / National Shooting Team: It feels amazing. Many citizens must have watched us, and I am so happy and overjoyed that I am even stuttering.]

Tomorrow, the national shooting team will seek victory in the mixed team event, featuring participants including air pistol individual gold medalist Choo Ga-eun and Paris Olympics gold medalist Oh Ye-jin.

(Camera Reporter: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editor: Kim Jun-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.