Sooyoung Jo Ki-seong’s first gold in 12 years… Korea, Disabled AG achieves goal of ‘21 gold medals’

(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-han = Swimmer Jo Ki-seong (Yongin Special City Hall) won the Asian Para Games gold medal for the first time in 12 years, and the shooting team swept gold, silver, and bronze medals in one event for the first time in this competition held overseas.

Korea achieved its goal of winning more than 21 gold medals through golden performances in swimming, shooting, cycling, and table tennis at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games held on the 22nd.

Jo Ki-seong won the men's 150m individual medley (sport grade SM4) held at the Nagoya General Gymnasium in Japan with a time of 2 minutes 43.36 seconds.

This is the first Asian Para Games gold medal in 12 years since the 200m freestyle event at the 2014 Incheon Games. He won silver medals in the 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke at this competition, and won his third medal by taking the top spot in the individual medley.

At the Aichi Prefecture General Shooting Range, three Korean flags were displayed together.

Jang-ho Lee (Cheongju City Hall) won the mixed 50m rifle prone (SH1) final with a new competition record of 248.2 points. After placing 8th in the finals, he went on to win the gold medal.

Jin-ho Park (Gangneung City Hall) won the silver medal with 247.5 points, and Jeong-min Hwang (Gyeonggi-do Sports Association for the Disabled) added the bronze medal with 227.0 points.

It has been 12 years since the 2014 Incheon Games that Korean shooting swept the gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Asian Para Games, and it is the first time in an overseas competition.

In cycling, the spirit of fighting injuries and the potential of a veteran shone.

Heo Yun-jeong (Jeollanam-do Cycling Federation) won the women's road race (H1-3) held at the Izu Cycle Sports Center road course in Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

After injuring his left ankle while touring the course, he won a bronze medal in the individual road solo race the day before, despite falling in the rain, and added a gold medal on this day.

Do-yeon Lee (Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Disabled Cycling Federation) won the women's road race (H4-5). After winning his 4th consecutive individual road solo victory the day before, he won 2 gold medals in this competition.

Korean table tennis, which won six gold medals in singles, continued its golden streak by securing three gold medals in doubles on this day.

The team of Kim Hyun-wook (Gyeonggi-do Sports Association for the Disabled) and Ji-yu Yoon (Seongnam City Hall) defeated Jin-cheol Park (Seoul Sports Association for the Disabled) and Su-yeon Seo (Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall) 3-0 in the table tennis mixed doubles (XD4) final held at Toyota Sky Hall Toyota.

The two players who previously won the singles won double gold medals at the Asian Para Games for the first time, and will challenge for triple gold medals in the men's and women's doubles on the 23rd.

The pair of Young-jin Jang (Seongnam City Hall) and Mi-gyu Lee (Ulsan Disabled Sports Association) defeated the Thai group, which together won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, 3-1 in the mixed doubles (XD7) final, winning their first Asian Para Games mixed doubles gold medal.

The team of Kim Ki-tae (Seoul City Hall) and Kim Bo-gyeom (Gyeongnam Disabled Sports Association) won the men's doubles (MD22) by winning all four matches.

Kim Ki-tae won two gold medals following the singles, and won gold medals in four consecutive competitions starting from the 2014 Incheon Games, increasing his total gold medals to seven. Kim Bo-gyeom enjoyed the joy of winning his first Asian Para Games gold medal.

In the mixed doubles, Kim Young-gun (Jeonnam Gwangju Unified City Workplace Sports Department) and Moon Seong-hye (Seongnam City Hall) added silver medals in XD10, and Kim Ki-tae and Seo Yang-hee (Ulsan Sports Association for the Disabled) added silver medals in XD22.

As of the 22nd, China led the way with 150 gold medals, followed by Japan (40) and Uzbekistan (38).

Korea won a total of 70 medals, including 21 gold, 23 silver, and 26 bronze medals. India, which had the same number of gold medals, lost the number of silver medals and ranked 5th overall, down one place from the previous day.

However, in the table tennis men's doubles (MD22), in which Kim Ki-tae and Kim Bo-gyeom won the championship, the gold medal has not yet been reflected in the official tally as other teams' full league matches remain until the 23rd.