Swimmer Kim Young-beom Wins Gold at Asian Games

By Yoo Jee-ho

TOKYO, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- Throughout his nine-minute interview after winning his first Asian Games gold medal on Monday, swimmer Kim Young-beom, the men's 50-meter freestyle champion, kept touching and cradling the prize around his neck, so incredulous was he that he had captured it.

"Man, this thing is so heavy. I might get a neck spasm," Kim cracked. "I thought it would hit me once I put it around my neck. I still can't believe this gold medal is mine. They played our national anthem in such a big arena just to congratulate me. It was an incredible feeling. I didn't believe I had won this race even when I saw my name on the board right afterward."

Kim's title-winning race at Tokyo Aquatics Centre also bordered on disbelief. He established an Asian record of 21.66 seconds, only hours after he had set one in the heats with 21.71 seconds.

Rare is a swimmer who breaks a record in the heats, since athletes often save their best for the finals scheduled for later in the day. Even rarer is a swimmer who breaks his own record within the same day.

"Ahead of the final, I just wanted to swim the same way I did in the morning. I basically wanted to copy and paste it. I didn't care if I was going to have another record or not," Kim said. "Even my coaches said I should race exactly like I did in the heats and not push too hard for a record."

This was Kim's second medal in two days here. On Sunday, he began his competition with silver in the 100m freestyle, finishing just 0.04 second behind the champion, Pan Zhanle of China, at 47.65 seconds.

Kim said after Sunday's race that he was upset about the way he had managed the final stretch, as he allowed Pan to pass him.

Kim said Monday he had successfully used his performance from the previous day as his fuel.

"If I had not performed that poorly yesterday, then I would not have won this gold medal today," Kim said. "I watched that 100m race over and over again this morning. I kept beating myself up for what I missed, and I reminded myself that no race is ever over until it is over."

Kim said he never consciously tried to break records, knowing that type of mindset would only have an adverse effect.

"All I wanted to do was to swim my race, and I knew records would follow," Kim added.

The 20-year-old joked he will put his gold medal in his pillow case and literally sleep on it Monday night, but his celebration will not last beyond this first night.

"I still have so much more that I want to accomplish," he said. "When I wake up tomorrow, there is no guarantee I will win another gold medal. I will just enjoy this today, and I will go back to chasing my dreams and goals tomorrow."