What has Joel Jin Nwamadi said about his goal for the Asian Games 100m dash in Japan?

He said he wants to focus on the immediate task of his first Asian Games. Nwamadi said he is nervous but excited, and believes his recent momentum gives him confidence to break his own record again and reach the podium.

How close has Joel Jin Nwamadi come to the Korean 100m national record this season?

He ran 10.08 seconds with a 3.5 m/s tail wind in Japan in April, which was just 0.01 second shy of the record, and later matched the national standard unofficially with 10.07 seconds in Japan this month. Both results were wind-aided and therefore not official records.

Who is Joel Jin Nwamadi and what background does the article give about him?

He is a 20-year-old Korean sprinter born in Seoul to a Nigerian father and a Korean mother. The article says he has been improving his personal best almost every meet this season and that his surge has drawn praise from Kim Kuk-young.

Emerging sprinter chasing Asian Games medal, nat'l record in 100m dash

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Summary

Korean sprinter Joel Jin Nwamadi said he will chase a medal and another personal best in the men’s 100 meters at the Asian Games in Japan next month. The 20-year-old, born in Seoul to a Nigerian father and a Korean mother, has been setting faster times almost every meet this season. He has also tied the national record unofficially with a wind-aided 10.07 seconds and entered the Asian Games delegation press conference saying he feels confident about reaching the podium.

Key Facts

Nwamadi posted a personal-best 10.23 seconds in Japan in April, after earlier clocking a wind-aided 10.08 seconds with a tail wind of 3.5 m/s.
In May, he ran 10.09 seconds at the Asian Games national team trials.
This month, he touched 10.07 seconds in Japan with a 3.2 m/s tail wind to unofficially tie the national record.
Kim Kuk-young said earlier this week that Nwamadi will not only break his record but could also shatter the 10-second barrier in the near future.

By Yonhap

Published Aug 21, 2026 9:17 am KST

Korean sprinter Joel Jin Nwamadi speaks during a press conference at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday. Yonhap

Korean sprinter Joel Jin Nwamadi has been setting new personal-best times in the men's 100 meters at virtually every meet this season.

The 20-year-old said he will try to break it one more time next month at the Asian Games in Japan.

Born in Seoul to a Nigerian father and a Korean mother, Nwamadi posted a personal-best 10.23 seconds at an event in Japan in April. Earlier at the same competition, he clocked a wind-aided 10.08 seconds, just 0.01 second shy of a nine-year-old national record, with a tail wind of 3.5 meters per second (m/s). In athletics, if a tail wind exceeds 2.0 m/s, the result is not recognized as official.

Later in April, Nwamadi broke his personal record with 10.19 seconds.

In May, Nwamadi posted a time of 10.09 seconds with a tail wind of 2.8 m/s at the Asian Games national team trials. Two months later, he ran 10.13 seconds at a Japan meet in more pristine conditions.

The sprinter then reached even greater heights this month, touching 10.07 seconds with a 3.2 m/s tail wind in Japan to unofficially tie the national record.

Nwamadi's surge has prompted the record holder, Kim Kuk-young, to declare earlier this week that Nwamadi will not just break his national record but will even shatter the 10-second barrier in the near future.

At a joint press conference for the Korean Asian Games delegation Thursday, Nwamadi said he will keep his focus on the more immediate task.

"Since this will be my first Asian Games, I am nervous but also excited at the same time," he said. "I have been setting new personal-best times and have been riding some good momentum this year. I think I should go into the Asian Games feeling confident that I can break my own record again and reach the podium."

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