Park Tae-hwan set to defend Olympic title
By Jung Min-ho
“It feels like Beijing,” said Park Tae-hwan, the 400-meter men’s freestyle gold medallist at the Beijing Games, after his first training session at the Olympic Park Aquatics Center, Sunday. He is preparing to face his chief rival Sun Yang of China on July 29.
The wait has been long and tough. After rigorous training for the past four years, Park is now set to defend his title and challenge for others in London. For the 23-year-old swimmer, Sun, the 1500-meter freestyle world record holder seems to be his toughest competition.
The encounter between Asia’s two fastest swimmers in the 400 meters is one of the most anticipated events for swimming fans around the globe. Some predict victory for Sun based on his personal best of 3 minutes 40.29 seconds set in September 2011. It is 1.24 seconds faster than Park’s personal best, although others believe that the first Asian 400-meter Olympic champion has a better chance to repeat the glory of four years ago since the Korean has never been beaten by Sun at an international competition. Park seems unconcerned about the encounter with his Chinese rival but instead wants to challenge the 400-meter world record at what will probably be his last Olympics.
“This is not about a competition with Yang. What I think more important is to win the record-battle with myself,” Park said.
German swimmer Paul Biedermann holds the current world record of 3:40.07, set at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy.
Under the shadow of China’s Zhang Lin, Sun wasn’t the biggest threat to Park four years ago. However, when Park beat Lin in the 400-meter freestyle by less than a second on the opponent’s home territory to win Korea’s first swimming gold, China was disappointed but soon cheered Yang’s emergence as the nation’s fastest long-distance swimmer. However, despite Sun’s improvement in the 400, recent races show that there is no reason for Park to be intimidated.
Starting with the 2007 World Aquatic Championships in Melbourne where Park won the 400 in 3:44.30, while Sun was eliminated in heat eight, ranking 32nd overall with a fastest time of 3:56.11. In the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Park won in 3:41.53 outpacing Sun’s time of 3:42.47. In the 2011 Shanghai World Championships, Park once again triumphed in 3:42.04 compared with Sun’s 3:43.24.
The 400-meter final is scheduled for July 29 at 3:50 a.m., Korean time.
The two Asian swimmers will also vie for gold in the 200 and 1,500 meters freestyle. Park took silver in the 200 at the Beijing Olympics in 1:44.85 and has a better shot at gold this time round as reigning champion Michael Phelps of the U.S. has decided not to participate in the distance to focus more on the 400-meter freestyle relay.