Yachtsman Ha Jee-min Claims 16th Consecutive National Sports Festival Title in Laser Class

South Korean sailing legend Ha Jee-min (Haeundae District Office) has achieved a milestone of 16 consecutive victories at the National Sports Festival.

Competing in the general division Laser class race 6 at the 107th National Sports Festival held at Dodu Port in Jeju Island on October 21, Ha finished in first place with a total of 5 penalty points. He clinched the title ahead of Lee Min-je (Boryeong City Hall, 14 points) and Jeong Bo (Gangneung City Hall, 15 points).

He finished first in race 1 and fourth in race 2 held on October 17, and secured first place in both race 3 and race 4 held on October 18.

After topping race 5 on October 20, Ha placed at the top of the scoreboard once again in the final race on October 21.

The sailing Laser class consists of a total of six races. Points are awarded based on finishing positions—1 point for first, 2 points for second, and so on—and the final ranking is determined by dropping the worst score and summing the remaining points.

Starting from the 90th National Sports Festival in 2009 through this year's competition, Ha has participated in every tournament—excluding 2020 and 2021 when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic—to achieve 16 straight titles.

Ha is a flagship figure in South Korean sailing who has competed in five consecutive Summer Olympic Games, from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At the Asian Games, he secured three consecutive gold medals at the 2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon, and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang editions, and captured his fourth career Asian Games gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
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