(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Kyung-yoon = Kim Min-seok (Suwon City Hall), the top heavyweight in Korean wrestling, achieved the valuable achievement of winning three consecutive Asian Games medals.
Kim Min-seok won the bronze medal by defeating Turkmenistan's Aslan Agadadayev 7-2 in the men's Greco-Roman 130 kg bronze medal match at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Inae Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan on the 30th.
This is the first medal in wrestling at this competition.
He won bronze medals three times in a row, following the 2018 Jakarta/Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games.
Kim Min-seok lost according to the first-goal-priority rule after finishing 1-1 in the round of 16 against Rafael Chichuashvili (Uzbekistan) held this morning.
He took the opportunity to participate in the repechage match as Tsichuashvili advanced to the finals, and advanced to the bronze medal match by defeating Kazakhstan's Oljas Sirlibai 6-1.
Kim Min-seok saw his opportunity as he fought back and forth in the first period of the bronze medal match.
With 1 minute and 20 seconds left in the first period, he scored 1 point due to the opponent's passive play and took the opportunity to parter.
Minseok Kim added 2 points by successfully performing a side roll attack, and then continued to roll side to side again, quickly widening the score gap to 7-0. Afterwards, a counterattack was allowed and 1 point was conceded.
Kim Min-seok, who took a 6-point lead, continued the game calmly.
Experienced Kim Min-seok dominated the game in the second period.
The opposing player pushed hard, and Kim Min-seok held on well and wasted time.
Kim Min-seok was in danger of losing after giving up 1 point due to passive play with 1 minute and 47 seconds left in the game.
However, he held on with all his might and prevented conceding a goal.
Kim Min-seok, who succeeded in defense, finished the game without conceding any goals in the remaining time.
Minseok Kim won one bronze medal at the World Championships, three silver medals and two bronze medals at the Asian Championships, and two bronze medals at the Asian Games excluding this tournament.
Kim Min-seok, who had never won a gold medal in a major competition, considered this competition to be his last Asian Games and prepared with all his might.
Last March, he was diagnosed as needing surgery for a ruptured left chest muscle during training. However, he was so desperate to train that he postponed the surgery until after the competition because going on the operating table could disrupt his preparations for the national team selection and the Aichi/Nagoya Asian Games.
He named his son, who was born in December, Kim (ι), and dyed his hair golden before leaving for Japan, showing his strong will to win a gold medal.
Although his dream challenge of winning the gold medal was unfortunately defeated, he took solace in the valuable bronze medal.
