High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok qualifies for final, first South Korean athlete in 25 years
South Korea's Woo Sang-hyeok reacts as he competes in the men's high jump qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 30, 2021. AFP-Yonhap
Male high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok qualified for the Tokyo Olympic final on Friday, becoming the first South Korean track and field athlete in a quarter century to get that far in the multisport competition.
Woo cleared 2.28 meters on his second attempt to make it out of the qualifying stage at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. He will compete in the final on Sunday.
In the men's high jump, the top 12 jumpers out of 33, or those who clear 2.30 meters, advance to the final.
The last South Korean athlete to reach an Olympic final in a track and field event was high jumper Lee Jin-taek in 1996. He ranked eighth in the final, and it remains the best performance in Olympic athletics for South Korea. (Yonhap)