Hwang Sun-woo secures gold in World Championships

Hwang Sun-woo has made history as the first Korean swimmer to claim the 200-meter freestyle world championship title.

The 21-year-old secured the gold medal with an impressive time of one minute and 44.75 seconds in the men's 200-meter freestyle final at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships held in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. Danas Rapsys (29, Lithuania) secured the second position with a time of one minute and 45.05 seconds, while Luke Hobson (21, USA) took third place, completing the race in one minute and 45.26 seconds.

Hwang's gold medal in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships marks the second-ever achievement for an Asian athlete. Competing from lane 5, he initially dominated the race, maintaining a lead of over 1 meter until the first 100-meter competition. Despite briefly relinquishing the lead to Hobson just before the 130-meter mark, Hwang executed a remarkable comeback in the last 10 meters, ultimately touching the pad first and securing his historic victory.

This marks the first instance of Hwang executing a comeback with a last-minute spurt in a major tournament. The swimming community has assessed that Hwang's dedicated efforts to accumulate experience in international competitions and enhance his race management skills through training in Australia have yielded positive results. Hwang Sun-woo concluded his training regimen in Gold Coast, Australia, spanning from Jan. 5 to Feb. Notably, he arrived in Doha without undergoing 'tapering'—the process of reducing training intensity and focusing on conditioning—before participating in this competition.

Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com