‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyeok (27, Yongin City Hall) won a silver medal in the first competition of the 2023 season.
Woo Sang-hyeok recorded 2m 24 in the men’s high jump final at the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan on the 12th, and came second after Akamatsu Ryoichi (28, Japan), who surpassed 2m 28.
Woo Sang-hyeok’s rival and current top jumper Mutaz Esa Barsim (32, Qatar) did not participate in the Asian tournament, and Woo Sang-hyeok was selected as the number one candidate for the championship. However, Woo Sang-hyeok is still in the stage of raising his body. On top of that, Akamatsu excelled by exceeding his personal best tie of 2m 28, and Woo Sang-hyeok was pushed to second place. Majdi Ghazal (36, Syria), who crossed 2m 24 in the 3rd period, won the bronze medal.
Barsim won the men’s high jump title at the Asian Indoor Championships five times in a row from the 2010 Tehran Games in Iran to the 2018 Tehran Games. However, he did not participate in this tournament.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Woo Sang-hyeok, who was considered a clear winner, showed overwhelming performance at the beginning of the game. Woo Sang-hyuk, who won a ticket to the finals with just one jump by overcoming the 2m 14 in the first round in the preliminary round held on the 11th, passed the 2m 10 in the final with 9 players and won the 2m 15온라인카지노, 2m 20, and 2m 24 in the first round. passed lightly Woo Sang-hyeok and Akamatsu were the only players who did not fail even once up to 2m 24.
Woo Sang-hyeok lightly touched the bar with his butt in the 2m 28 first period. It was the first failure of the season. Woo Sang-hyuk raised the bar to 2m 30 after Akamatsu succeeded in reaching 2m 28 in the second round. It was his will to aim for ‘single first place’ rather than ‘joint championship’. The high jump is over when the athlete fails three times in a row. Woo Sang-hyeok, who failed once in the 2m 28 and immediately raised the bar, failed twice in a row in the 2m 30 and finished in second place.
Woo Sang-hyeok is the world’s best jumper who is in the second round with Barsim. He built a splendid career by placing 4th at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (2m 35), winning the Belgrade World Indoor Championships in 2022 (2m 34), and 2nd place at the 2022 Eugene Outdoor World Championships (2m 35). His personal best is 2m 36 indoors and 2m 35 outdoor. Woo Sang-hyuk started 2023 as the world’s No. 1 by ranking first in the ranking points compiled by the World Association of Athletics Federations in 2022.
His first competition is a training course. Woo Sang-hyeok finished 5th (2m 23) at the Nech Viz Di Indoor Championship in the Czech Republic, his first match last year, but afterwards made brilliant results. Woo Sang-hyeok, who finished his first competition in 2023, had a sad expression when he did not exceed 2m 30, but at the awards ceremony, he waved his hand with a bright expression and pledged to leap forward to the next competition.
Woo Sang-hyeok, who left for the United States on December 1 of last year and started battery training, continued training in Europe and then played his first real fight in 2023 in Kazakhstan. He plans to return to Korea on the 14th, continue training in Korea, and plan to participate in the World Athletics Federation Diamond League.
The first tournament in 2023 started with second place, but Sang-hyeok Woo is running toward the ‘real goal’ of this season, winning the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.