[Anchor]

It was truly a nail-biting basketball final. We will bring you detailed coverage shortly of our national team defeating Japan to claim the Asian Games gold medal for the first time in 12 years. Today (September 20), a series of pleasant victories also poured in from other events. Sung Seung-min, the leading star in women's modern pentathlon, became the protagonist of our delegation's first gold medal of this tournament. The men's team also reached the top, spearheaded by leading athlete Jun Woong-tae.

First, here is reporter Hong Seok-jun.

[Reporter]

Sung Seung-min rose to the top by sweeping all her matches from the first event, fencing, and raised both arms in jubilation after breaking her personal best record even in the obstacle course, which had been pointed out as her weakness.

Maintaining her lead through swimming, she started the laser run—the final event—18 seconds ahead of the second-place athlete. Running relentlessly and boasting accurate shooting skills, she lapped the lower-ranking athletes by more than one full lap.

Waving to the cheering fans and crossing the finish line more than 30 seconds ahead of second place, Sung Seung-min became the protagonist of both our delegation's first gold medal of this tournament and the first-ever Asian Games gold medal in South Korean women's modern pentathlon history.

In the team event, where the scores of the top three individuals in the individual event are combined, she teamed up with Kim Eun-joo and Shin Su-min to claim the silver medal.

[Sung Seung-min / National Team Member for Women's Modern Pentathlon: Starting off with the first gold medal like this feels extraordinary, and I am so happy right now that words cannot describe how good it feels.]

Men's leading athlete Jun Woong-tae earned a medal of tenacity.

Linger at 9th place through swimming, he started the laser run 35 seconds behind the leader. He climbed up the rankings one step at a time, ultimately crossing the finish line in 2nd place.

Jun Woong-tae, who secured a precious silver medal, reddened his eyes as he recalled the moments he endured hellish training after undergoing surgery to remove metal pins for this tournament.

[Jun Woong-tae / National Team Member for Men's Modern Pentathlon: The difficult moments kept flashing by, and those parts passed before my eyes like a revolving lantern, and I don't think the path to get here was smooth at all...]

Although he missed out on a third consecutive individual title, he broke into a bright smile at the news that he achieved two consecutive team titles alongside Lee Jong-hyun and Seo Chang-wan.

[Jun Woong-tae / National Team Member for Men's Modern Pentathlon: I didn't hear. Is the (team event) 1st place?]

[We will celebrate among ourselves.]

South Korean modern pentathlon delivered golden energy to our delegation on the first day of the competition, writing another stellar record following the last tournament with 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video by Choi Dae-woong, Video Editing by Park Choon-bae, Design by Hwang Se-yeon)