Kim Sun-woo (Gyeonggi Provincial Government) competed for individual and team medals in the women’s modern pentathlon at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Fuyang Throat Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on Thursday. Starting with fencing, Kim held onto second place and finished with a silver medal, a step up from her last competition. With a third-place finish in the team event, Kim finished the Games with two medals.
After finishing second in the fencing ranking round on Tuesday with 255 points, Kim scored 283 points in swimming, 299 points in equestrian and 549 points in the laser run for a total of 1386 points. China’s Zhang Mingyu, who was in third place before the laser run, pulled off an upset in the laser run to take gold with 1406 points, while China’s Bian Yufei, who remained in first place, took bronze with 1374 points.
The team medal was decided by combining the top three scores, and South Korea finished third with a total of 3574 points (Kim Sun-woo 1386, Kim Se-hee 1100, Sung Seung-min 1088), ahead of Kazakhstan (3508). On the women’s side, eight of the 18 competitors in the equestrian event, including three Koreans, scored zeroes. Kim finished the 300-point event with no points after falling off the horse she was assigned for the day.
Instead, Kim Se-hee and Sung Seung-min split the laser run to push Kazakhstan to fourth place. Their bad luck in the equestrian event could have been disheartening, but their persistence paid off with a bronze medal.
After all the competition, Kim was disappointed that his laser run didn’t go his way. He said, “It’s too bad, too bad. I’m so disappointed right now, and I kept feeling like the gun was getting too sensitive. I’d load it up and it would just go off… I don’t know if I was pushing it or if it was the gun because it’s a little humid in here. I was shooting well at first, but once I got down, I think I lost my grip on it. I lost my tempo, and that’s why I didn’t shoot well,” he said.
He added, “I kept going off a little bit in the shooting, so it was getting harder and harder to catch on the track. I was not feeling well before I came here, so I don’t think I had the strength for the final sprint, so that’s a shame,” he reflected.
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Kim’s silver was also the first medal for the Korean team at the Games. “Usually we (modern pentathlon) are at the end of the competition, but this time it was held beforehand, so I won the first medal for Korea. I’m honored for that, and even though (the silver medal) is disappointing, it’s still a valuable medal, so I want to go to the podium with a smile on my face.”
The Mixzone interview was conducted with only Kim’s silver medal in the bag. It wasn’t until all the scores were tallied that South Korea’s bronze medal was confirmed – a dramatic turn of events.
“Actually, I really wanted to win the team event more than the individual event, because in the individual event you’re alone, but in the team event you can have three people on the podium, so I wanted to go home with a medal and a smile on my face, but the rest of the athletes were nervous and didn’t perform well, so I was very upset. I didn’t think any words could comfort them, so I just hugged them and prepared for the next competition.” So when I got the news of the bronze medal, I was surprised.
- What was different about your third Asian Games?
“The first time (Incheon 2014), I was so young and didn’t know what to expect, so I just followed my older sisters. The second time (Jakarta-Palembang 2018, silver), the results started to come in, so I had a lot of pressure and greed (at the Asian Games). This time, I came with a relaxed mindset, and I thought, “Let’s take it easy in fencing and score points,” and I think that’s why I was able to start off with a good result and get the silver medal.”
- At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, you received a lot more attention than before. Has she noticed a change in the atmosphere?
“I think a lot of people are interested in modern pentathlon because I keep performing well, and I’m really grateful for all the people who come and support me. I’m really grateful for all the people who came and supported me.”
- The next Olympics are just around the corner.
“After this competition, I realized that I was lacking a lot, and I need to work harder, and next year’s Olympics are really close. I have to go to (South Korea) to prepare for the national championships and the national trials. I want to work harder in the winter and be fully prepared for next year’s season.”
- The Asian Games ended early on.
“I’m flying home tomorrow. We have the national championships in South Korea. We have to prepare for the national championships because we are all important players in each city. After that, we have the national team selection. I don’t think we’ll be able to relax until November, and then we’ll take a little break and get ready for winter training.”토토사이트
- Has the suddenly hot weather been a factor?
“I get really hot. I sweat a lot, and I’m in a lot of heat, so as you can see, it’s one race after another. After one event, I would rest for 10 minutes, then do the next event, and so on, so it was getting harder and harder physically, unlike before, but I think it was even harder because the weather was hot.”
- Have you spoken to coach Choi Eun-jong?
“Not yet. I was so upset and disappointed, so I thanked the teachers (coaching staff) and told them I was sorry. They told me that I did a good job with the silver medal, which made me cry.”