By Yoon Chul
South Korean long jumper Jung Soon-ok brought Korea its first gold in athletics at the Guangzhou Asian Games.
Jung leapt 6.53 meters ― three centimeters better than Olga Rypkova of Kazakhstan at the Aoti Main Stadium, Tuesday.
Jung’s previous jumps were not good enough to grab any medal until her fourth attempt ― she managed only 6.34 meters in her first attempt and saw her second disallowed.
Jung’s third jump was a meager 6.22 meters, seemingly putting her far away from a medal.
However, the 27-year-old refreshed her mind and pulled out a record for this Asiad in her fourth attempt taking over from then leader Rypkova; who then saw her fifth jump eliminated after she crossed the line.
Jung won the National Sports Festival for the 10th straight year this year, and set a new Korean record with 6.76 meters in the National Club Athletics Championships in June.
Yun grabs 2nd gold in individual archery.
Yun Ok-hee won Korea’s third gold in archery, Tuesday, in the women’s individual event at the Guangzhou Asian Games.
Yun, who already grabbed gold in the team competition, Sunday, beat China’s Meng Cheng 6-0 in three ends.
Each archer gets three shots per end and the highest scorer gets two points.
Meng had already shown her accuracy in the team competition and proved her prowess by beating another Korean archer Ki Bo-bae in the quarterfinal.
Yun’s first end didn’t begin good as she shot three nines; but Meng, who hit nine with her first two shots, faltered and dropped to a seven, giving the win to Yun.
In the second end the same occurred with the two shooting 10s and nines, respectively, with their first attempts. Yun then shot a nine, while Meng dropped to eight, giving the Korean another two points for 4-0 lead.
The Chinese archer needed at least a point from a draw in the third end to remain in the contest, but failed.
She shot three nines to Yun’s nine, 10 and nine giving the Korean the end and the match.
Korea has a chance for a gold medal sweep in archery with the men’s individual tournament being contested today.
1 | Korean Lunar New Year vs. Chinese Lunar New Year |
