[Anchor]

Sprinter Jang Min-ho, who became the first South Korean athlete to compete consecutively in both the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games, delivered an unbelievable golden sprint. Overcoming the hardship of losing his sight, he broke the Asian record twice in a single day.

Pyeon Gwanghyeon reports from Nagoya.

[Reporter]

In the 100-meter preliminaries held in the morning, Jang Min-ho set a new Asian record of 10.61 seconds despite a headwind of 1.3 meters per second, advancing to the finals with a relaxed expression.

He surged forward at the sound of the starting pistol, dominated the race, and crossed the finish line first with clenched teeth.

Clocking in at 10.48 seconds—shaving a remarkable 0.13 seconds off the Asian record he had set earlier that morning—Jang pumped his fists in the air and cheered.

Having narrowly missed out on a medal despite setting a South Korean record in the 1,600-meter mixed relay at the able-bodied Asian Games last month, Jang finally unfurled the Taegeukgi proudly on the Nagoya track just 26 days later.

He has risen as a top sprinter, overcoming retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that gradually narrows his field of vision.

[Jang Min-ho / Para Athletics National Team Member: I really wanted to play the national anthem in this stadium, and it is such an absolute honor to be able to do so. I hope people will not hide because of their disabilities, but instead achieve the dreams they desire.]

Jang will challenge for another gold medal the day after tomorrow (the 23rd) in his main event, the 400-meter race.

---

A flood of gold medals came from table tennis, a traditional powerhouse event.

Starting with the men's singles class 2 final where South Korean athletes competed against each other for the gold, star players such as Seo Su-yeon and Yoon Ji-yu delivered successive golden smashes, causing the national anthem to ring out six times yesterday alone at the table tennis venue.

Video by Kim Jin-won