Korean athletes including Yang Ji-in and Won Jong-beom prepare to participate in the Asian Games
Quick Look
- Yang Ji-in, a gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, aims to win two gold medals by competing in the women's 25m pistol individual and team shooting events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
- Won Jong-beom is challenging for the gold medal in the men's 95kg weightlifting class, and Korean athletes are aiming for medals in various sports, including handball, hockey, track and field, beach volleyball, and diving.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Yang Ji-in won two bronze medals in the women's 25m pistol individual and team events at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics the following year. Won Jong-beom won gold medals in the clean and jerk and total at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.
(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Hyeon-gu = 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist Yang Ji-in (Woori Bank) pulls the trigger on becoming the leader of Asia.
Yang Ji-in, along with Oh Ye-jin (IBK Industrial Bank of Korea) and Bong Seo-rin (Gwangju Sports Council), will participate in the women's 25m pistol individual and team events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Prefecture Shooting Range in Japan on the 28th.
Yang Ji-in, who won two bronze medals in this event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held three years ago, completely changed her status from 'secret weapon' to 'shooting queen' by dominating the Paris Olympics the following year.
Yang Ji-in set her primary goal of winning the team event in this event, which does not exist in the Olympics, and showed her determination to win the second gold medal by sweeping the individual event as well.
Veteran historian Won Jong-beom (Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Office) will challenge for a gold medal in the men's 95kg weightlifting event held at the Nagoya Small and Medium Business Promotion Center.
Won Jong-beom, ranked second in the world, won gold medals in the clean and jerk at the 2023 World Championships and clean and jerk in the total at the 2024 World Championships.
The men's handball team is about to put in all its effort to secure a silver medal in the semifinals against Qatar, and the men's hockey team will finish the group stage with a match between Korea and Japan that must be won to advance to the semifinals.
Korean track and field hopefuls Biwesa Daniel Gassama, Namadi Joel Jin, Jae-seong Lee, Min-jun Seo, and Si-ion Kim look for medals in the men's 400m relay.
Shin Ji-eun (25), who has emerged as the hottest star on social networking services (SNS) among the Korean players in this tournament, will be paired with Kim Jeong-ah (24) in the round of 16 of beach volleyball.
Kim Su-ji (Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall) and Kim Young-nam (Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office), the leading figures in swimming and diving who challenged China's stronghold for more than half a century, are competing in the men's and women's 1m springboard swimming and diving event, and this time they dream of a medal brighter than the bronze medal.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Yang Ji-in will win two gold medals in the women's 25m pistol shooting event, both individual and team event.
Possible · Within weeks
Won Jong-beom will win a gold medal in the men's 95kg weightlifting class.
Possible · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will Yang Ji-in actually be able to win two gold medals at the Asian Games?
- Will Won Jong-beom be able to win a gold medal in the men's 95kg weightlifting class?
- Will the Korean national handball team be able to secure a silver medal by winning the semifinals against Qatar?
