2024 Korea Olympic Trials
The 2024 Korea Olympic Team Trials began today in Gimcheon, and the competition has begun in style with three swimmers already qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
Participating in the men's 1500m free final Kim Woo Min He won the gold medal with a time of 14 minutes 58.03 seconds.
Wu Ming, 22, became the only athlete to break the 15-minute barrier with a lead of more than 20 seconds. In the process, Ace also cleared the World Aquatics Olympic qualifying time of 15 minutes 00.99 seconds to add her name to the Paris Olympics roster.
Furthermore, Kim's time was a new personal best, lower than the time of 15:01.07 that she won the silver medal at last year's Asian Games. In Hangzhou, Kim topped the podium in both the 400m and 800m freestyle races. He plans to attempt these distances and the 200m at subsequent trials.
Kim's Olympic qualification comes on the heels of her title win in the 400m free event at last month's world championships. In Doha, he ran a gold medal-worthy time of 3:42.71, becoming the first Korean to win the 400m free world championship. Park Tae Hwan At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.
Additionally, in Doha, Kim was an important member of the men's 4x200m free relay, which won a close and close competition against China. Kim posted a time of 1:44.93 and helped South Korea post a total time of 7:01.94, which put it within 0.10 seconds of its Asian rival.
Kim recently returned to Japan after completing training at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Tonight's outing moves him just off the list of this season's top 10 performers in the world.
It was also acclaimed in Paris that Kim Min Seop He pushed his way to the top seed in the men's 200m butterfly qualifying round.
Kim stopped the clock with a time of 1:55.45 and landed in lane 4, nearly 5 seconds ahead of the pack. His time surpassed his previous standard record of 1 minute 55.95 seconds set in November 2022, making it a new Korean record.
Kim's result was below the World Aquatics Olympic qualifying time of 1 minute 55.78 seconds, and she added her name to the Paris team roster. Split is not available at this time.
Kim received a bonus of 1 million won (approximately 745 US dollars) for setting a new Korean record. His performance today ranks him 12th in the season world rankings.
Another notable swim was the women's 200m back heat, swum by a 17-year-old. Lee Eun Ji He finished as the top seed with a time of 2:09.88.
Her appearance en route to securing the number one spot heading into tomorrow's final, having already cleared the World Aquatics Olympic qualifying time of 2:10.39.
Lee's result was just shy of the Korean record of 2:09.49. Im Da Sol Logged in in 2019.
The teenager is coming off a successful Asian Games, winning bronze in the women's 100m dash with a time of 1:00.03, which tied a new national record, and bronze in the 200m dash with a time of 2:09.75. She also helped her earn three national relay medals.
