Korean track and field ends for the first time in Asian Games history without a silver medal

(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Kyung-yoon = Korean track and field failed to even win a silver medal for the first time in the history of participating in the Asian Games, and ended the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games schedule disappointingly.

Korean track and field only won three bronze medals out of 50 track and field events in this competition.

Choi Byeong-gwang (Samsung Electronics), the Korean leader in walking, won a bronze medal in the men's half marathon race walk on the 23rd with a record of 1 hour, 28 minutes and 35 seconds, and Korean high jumper Sang-hyuk Woo (Yongin City Hall) won a bronze medal in the men's high jump finals over 2m 22 on the 27th, standing on the podium for the third time in a row.

The men's relay team, consisting of Seo Min-jun (Seocheon County Office), Namadi Joel-jin (Yecheon County Office), Lee Jae-seong (Jeonnam Gwangju City Hall), Biwesa Daniel Gasama (Ansan City Hall), and Kim Si-ion (Armed Forces Athletic Corps), won a bronze medal with a new Korean record of 38.43 seconds in the men's 400m relay final on the 28th.

This is the third time that the track and field team has failed to win at least one silver medal at the Asian Games, following the 1st New Delhi Games in 1951, when the entire team did not participate, and the 4th Jakarta Games in 1962, when the entire athletics team did not participate.

The Jakarta Games were canceled for political reasons, and the Korean team only dispatched athletes to some events and did not participate in any of the track and field events.

Therefore, this is the first time that Korean athletics failed to achieve more than a silver medal by sending a team to the Asian Games.

The competition with the poorest performance was the 1978 Bangkok Games (1 silver medal, 1 bronze medal).

Korean track and field won 4 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, but performed poorly with 4 silver medals and 6 bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Games, and only 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal, and 4 bronze medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

And at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, they only received one silver medal and two bronze medals, and did not even win a silver medal at this competition.

Although my grades were disappointing, I also found hope.

In particular, the remarkable growth of Namadi Joel Jin and Viwesa in the men's short-distance double horse race brightened the future of Korean athletics.

The two athletes ranked 4th and 5th in the men's 100m final, which determines Asia's best sprinter, and emerged as Asia's top athletes.

The two also led the national team in the men's 400m relay.

Although the medal performance was poor, the 'story' behind the three bronze medals was touching.

World-class jumper Woo Sang-hyuk was considered a strong candidate to win this competition, but he prepared for this competition with an injury to his left foot, and it paid off even though his physical condition was not perfect.

The men's 400m relay team was disqualified in the preliminaries due to a questionable decision, but thanks to the quick response of the Korea Association of Athletics Federations and coaches, the decision was overturned and they were able to advance to the finals and eventually win a medal.

Even after the national team won the bronze medal, there was confusion at one point when the organizing committee notified Thailand, which crossed the finish line with a 4th place record, as the bronze medal team, but this was corrected after protests.

Korean track and field also suffered losses in the mixed 400m relay preliminaries. The national team was disqualified due to a misjudgment, but after an appeal, they were able to replay alone.

China achieved the best results in this competition, sweeping 17 gold medals in the track and field category alone.

Japan took 10 gold medals, Bahrain took 9 gold medals, and Thailand and Uzbekistan, led by Asia's best sprinter Puripol Bunson, each took 3 gold medals.

Korea ranked 16th in track and field.