Asian Games S. Korea wins gold in men's kayak double 500m racing at Asian Games
Summary
South Korea won gold in the men’s kayak double 500-meter race at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday. Cho Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin finished in 1:31.859 at Miyoshi Lake Canoe Course and became the first double gold medalists in the South Korean delegation. South Korea beat Japan by 0.317 second, and the result was its second canoe sprint gold at the competition.
Key Facts
- Cho Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin finished the final in 1:31.859 at Miyoshi Lake Canoe Course in Miyoshi, east of Nagoya.
- South Korea edged Japan by 0.317 second, while Iran finished 1.010 seconds behind the champions.
- The victory was South Korea’s second gold in canoe sprint at the competition after the men’s kayak four 500m win the previous day.
- Cho improved on his silver medal in the event from the previous Hangzhou Asian Games with a different teammate.
- The gold was South Korea’s first Asian Games title in the kayak double 500m event in 36 years, since the 1990 Beijing Asiad.
Gold medallists South Korea's Cho Gwang-hee, Hyobin Kim, Jang Sang-won and Choi Min-kyu celebrate after winning the Men's Kayak Four 500m event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Miyoshi Lake Canoe Course in Miyoshi, Japan, Sept. 24. Reuters-Yonhap
NAGOYA, Japan— South Korea won the gold medal in the men's kayak double 500-meter race at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday, with Cho Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin becoming the first double gold medalists in the South Korean delegation.
The South Korean duo finished the race in 1:31.859 in the final of the men's kayak double 500m event at Miyoshi Lake Canoe Course in Miyoshi, just east of the main host city of Nagoya.
South Korea edged out Japan by 0.317 second, with Iran finishing 1.010 seconds behind the champions.
It was South Korea's second gold in canoe sprint at the competition following the gold medal in the men's kayak four 500m event the previous day.
As a result, Cho and Kim, who also competed in the four-person event, became the first Korean athletes to win two gold medals at these Asian Games, which opened last Saturday.
Cho improved to the top step of the podium four years after winning silver in the event at the previous Hangzhou Asian Games with a different teammate.
Friday's gold was also South Korea's first Asian Games title in the kayak double 500m event in 36 years, since the 1990 Beijing Asiad.
In the final, the Cho-Kim duo crossed the 250-meter mark in 43.73 seconds, slightly behind the Kyrgyzstan team, but staged a comeback over the final 250 meters in a nip and tuck race with Japan, whose time of 47.616 seconds over the last 250 meters was the fastest.
Canoe sport comprises two disciplines — canoe sprint and canoe slalom — with kayak events contested in both.
Explore More
- Q.
- Q.
- Q.