Teenage sprinter breaks men’s 100-meter record

By Kim Hyun-cheol

Staff reporter

In September 1979, Seo Mal-ku set a new national record of 10.34 seconds in men's 100 meters at the Universiade games in Mexico City. But nobody predicted then that it would take more than three decades before a teenage athlete could better the record.

In the semifinal of the National Athletics Championships in Daegu, Kim Gook-young crossed the line in 10.23 seconds with the wind legal, 0.11 seconds ahead of Seo's record, to write a new chapter in the nation's history of the sport. It also shaved 0.24 of a second off his personal best.

Kim's national teammates, Lim Hee-nam and Yeo Ho-suah, finished at 10.32 seconds and 10.33 seconds, respectively, also beating Seo's record set 31 years ago.

In the final, however, Kim came in third at 10.43 seconds, with Lim first and Yeo second at 10.34 and 10.37 seconds, respectively.

Earlier that day, the 19-year-old Kim ran 10.31 seconds to first break the old national record.

The performance also fattened Kim's purse, as he was awarded 100 million won ($81,000) in prize money by the Korea Association of Athletics Federations. Kim's coach Kang Tae-seok received 30 million won, with Lim and Yeo also awarded 5 million won each.

The 19-year-old had been tipped to break Seo's seemingly invincible record.

At a local tournament in April, Kim clocked 10.17 seconds, the fastest-ever time in Korean athletes, but the run was ineligible due to a 4.9 meter-per-second tail wind. A maximum wind of 2.0 m/s is allowed for a legitimate record.

In his last race at the Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting last month, Kim was in last place out of the nine participants with 10.74 seconds, trailing Yeo and Lim, as the Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica won with 9.86 seconds.

Kim's coach Kang was positive in further improvement of the sprinter, with a prediction of reaching a sub-10 record in the future.

"He's got good reflexes, but still has way to go in weight training. With some more muscle power added, he should be able to bring his record down below the 10-second mark," Kang said.

Former record holder Seo said it was a "bittersweet" moment for him, but it's still a festive one for the local sport.

"It took a bit too long to come this far. I feel sorry for younger athletes about that, because I believe it could have come much earlier with more efforts from them," said Seo, now a professor at the National Naval Academy.

"Korea's 100-meter record could be down to around 10 seconds later on, but it might take some more time to reach the 9-second era without a technical improvement in training," he said.