The Korean roller skating speed men’s national team suffered a last-minute comeback in the 3,000m relay at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and missed out on the gold medal.
The national team, consisting of Choi In-ho (Nonsan City Hall), Choi Kwang-ho (Daegu City Hall), and Jeong Cheol-won (Andong City Hall), came in second place in the finals of the competition held at the Qiantang Roller Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on the 2nd.
Korea, which was leading until the last lap, allowed Taiwan to take the lead just before the finish line.
Korea’s record was 4 minutes 5.702 seconds, just 0.01 seconds behind first place Taiwan (4 minutes 5.692 seconds). 지울프-토토
The problem was that the last runner, Jeong Cheol-won, had a premonition of victory and became complacent before the finish line.
Just before crossing the finish line, Jeong Cheol-won straightened his back and raised his arms in an early ceremony.
At that time, the Taiwanese athlete behind him did not give up until the end, stuck out his left foot, and crossed the finish line before Jeong Cheol-won.
The Korean players, who mistakenly thought they had won and went to the Taegeukgi ceremony, were unable to hide their embarrassment after belatedly checking the official records.
Afterwards, even in the joint reporting area (mixed zone), he left the stadium in tears without responding to reporters’ requests for coverage.
After the awards ceremony ended, Jeong Cheol-won had difficulty opening his mouth.
Jeong Cheol-won said, “My mistake was too big. I let my guard down and made the mistake of not riding until the end,” and bowed his head, saying, “I’m sorry to my (fellow) players and I’m sorry to the many people who supported me.”
National team officials also did not raise any objections after watching the video of the game and listening to the referee’s explanation.
Korean roller skating seemed to have continued its golden run for three consecutive days since the 30th of last month when the schedule for this competition began, but unfortunately had to be satisfied with a silver medal on this day.
Byeong-hee Jeong (Chungbuk Sports Council) won the gold medal in the 10,000 m (excluding points (EP)) on the first day of the event, and the next day, Kwang-ho Choi won the gold medal in the 1,000 m sprint.
The women’s national team, consisting of Lee Seul (Daegu City Hall), Park Min-jung (Andong City Hall), and Lee Ye-rim (Cheongju City Hall), also won a silver medal in the 3,000m relay held earlier in the day, recording a time of 4 minutes 21.146 seconds.
Taiwan (4 minutes 19.447 seconds), which came in first, won the gold medal, and India (4 minutes 34.861 seconds) took the bronze medal.
