South Korea's Jang Min-ho Wins Second Gold at Asian Para Games with World Record in 400m

South Korean para-athlete Jang Min-ho (29, Anyang City Hall) secured his second gold medal of his debut Asian Para Games by setting a new world record.

Competing in the men's 400m (sport class T13) final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, today (October 23), Jang took first place with a time of 46.24 seconds.

The silver and bronze medals went to Ryota Fukunaga of Japan (47.98 seconds) and Jakarin Dammuni of Thailand (50.03 seconds), respectively.

Jang also set a new world record by shaving 0.20 seconds off the previous record of 46.44 seconds set by Skander Djamil Athmani of Algeria at the 2024 Kobe World Para Athletics Championships.

Jang's previous personal best was 46.47 seconds.

This marks the first time in 16 years that a world record has been broken in South Korean para-athletics, following Hong Seok-man's record in the men's 800m (1 minute 34.91 seconds) at the 2010 Arbon meeting in Switzerland.

Following his victory in the men's 100m on October 20 with an Asian record of 10.48 seconds, Jang claimed his second gold medal of the games.

In the 100m, Jang broke the Asian record in the preliminaries with 10.61 seconds before further improving his time in the final.

Earlier today in the 400m preliminaries, Jang finished second overall with a time of 50.92 seconds to advance to the final.

Starting from lane 5 in the final, he quickly pulled away from his competitors and poured his remaining energy into the final straightaway, crossing the finish line alongside a new world record.

Having competed in the mixed and men's 1,600m relays at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games last month, Jang returned to Nagoya to harvest two gold medals and a world record.

Jang, whose eyesight began to deteriorate rapidly last year, was diagnosed with visual impairment due to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that progressively narrows the field of vision.

Nevertheless, he continued running and finished third in the men's 400m at the National Track and Field Championships, which doubled as the Asian Games national team trials, earning selection as a relay national team member.

Receiving the T13 visual impairment sport class in para-athletics, he secured qualification for both the men's 100m and 400m at the Asian Para Games, becoming the first South Korean athlete to compete in both the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games.

Meanwhile, Kang Oe-taek (43, Gyeongsangnam-do Para-Athletics Federation), competing in the men's club throw (sport class F32) on the same day, won the silver medal with a throw of 33.91 meters.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.