Sang-hyuk Woo “Fighting Again…Nourishment for the Paris Olympics”
Woo Sang-hyuk (27-Yongin City Hall), who jumped 2.36 meters in hopes of winning a medal, had a disappointed look on his face as he watched the bar fall.
However, he quickly turned to the crowd and raised his arms in greeting.
His dreams of winning back-to-back World Athletics Championships medals were dashed, but he was not discouraged.
“I will use today’s disappointment as nourishment for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” Woo told Yonhap News Agency on Aug. 23 (KST), adding, “I also have the rest of this season. I will fight again.”
Woo cleared 2 meters (29 feet) to finish sixth in the men’s high jump final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships at the Budapest National Stadium in Hungary.
After clearing 2.33m and 2.36m, Woo congratulated Jean-Marco Tamberi (31-Italy) and Jubon Harrison (24-USA), who cleared 2.36m, and Mutaz Esa Barsim (32-Qatar), who cleared 2.33m.
Woo, who became the first Korean athlete to win a World Championships silver medal in Eugene, Oregon, USA, last year when he cleared 2.35 meters, was looking for a medal in Budapest. The World Athletics Federation had him as one of the favorites to win.
However, he had to settle for a non-medal in Budapest.
Despite the disappointing result, Woo’s competitive spirit will continue to be fueled.
Woo will compete in the Diamond League (DL) in Zurich, Switzerland on September 1 at 1:48 a.m. KST.
Currently in fifth place with 14 DL points, Woo can qualify for the DL Finals on his own with five more points in Zurich.
The Diamond League awards eight to one points to the first through eighth place finishers in each event. The top six finishers in the men’s high jump advance to the final, which this year will be held on September 16 and 17 in Eugene, USA.
Last year, Woo finished seventh with 16 Diamond League ranking points, missing out on a spot in the final by one point to Andriy Prochenko (35-Ukraine), who finished sixth with 17 points.
After winning Doha 2022 (8 points) and finishing second in Monaco (7 points), Woo finished eighth in Lausanne on Aug. 22 due to poor form.
“Last year, I went to Lausanne with a broken heart after the World Championships (2nd place),” said Woo Sang-hyuk after an open training session on the last two days. This year will be different,” Woo vowed, “I will advance to the Diamond League Final and bring home something heavy (the Diamond League Final trophy).”
After missing out on a medal at the World Championships in Budapest, he was even more motivated to become the first Korean athlete to reach the Diamond League Final.
After returning home from the Diamond League Final, Woo packed his bags again and headed to Hangzhou, China.
The men’s high jump final at the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) will be held on October 4.
If Woo defeats Barshim and wins the title, Korean athletics will have its first men’s high jump gold medal at an Asian Games in 21 years since Lee Jin-taek (Bangkok 1998 and Busan 2002).
Woo’s dreams are set on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“My biggest goal is to win the Paris Olympics,” he said on several occasions, “and then I will make plans for the Tokyo World Championships in 2025, the Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya in 2026, and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. I want to continue to write new history for Korean athletics.”
After the disappointing result at the World Championships in Budapest, she shook it off and said, “I will use it as nourishment for the Paris Olympics.”
He also thanked his fans for their support.
“Thank you to everyone who supported me,” Woo said on social media, promising to “do my best to finish the year well because this is not the end of this season.”
Woo, who broke through as a world-class jumper with a fourth-place finish in the 2.35m at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, went on to win the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade (2.34m) and finish second at the 2022 World Championships (2.35m), marking a new milestone for Korean athletics.
Despite the setback at this year’s World Championships, there are still major international competitions to come.
National coach Kim Do-gyun said after the 23rd, “I feel like I’ve been given a new homework assignment. We will only regret today and work harder to prepare for the next competitions such as the Hangzhou Asian Games.”
If Woo Sang-hyuk can fulfill his homework assignment in Budapest, 카지노사이트넷 he will have another chance to make history in Korean athletics.