Woo Sang-hyuk (27, Yongin City Hall) recalled his intense battle with the ‘best in the world’ Mutaz Esa Barsim (32, Katar) and said, “It was a great honour to compete on the same height as him, who I admired.”

Even after losing the gold medal to Barshim, Woo congratulated Barshim with a typically upbeat expression.

However, he was even more motivated to surpass Barshim at the Paris Olympics.

Woo cleared 2.33m to finish second in the men’s high jump final at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on 4 April. Barsim’s mark was 2.35 metres.

Woo is only the second man in history to clear 2.33m and not win the men’s high jump at an Asian Games.

At Incheon 2014, Zhang Guowei (CHN) finished second with 2.33m, but Barsim was the gold medallist.

Barshim is arguably the best jumper in the world.

He won three consecutive World Championships (London 2017, Doha 2019, Eugene 2022), tied for first with Jean-Marco Tamberi (ITA) at Tokyo 2020 바카라사이트, and holds the second-best all-time mark of 2.43m (Javier Sotomayor’s 2.45m is first).

Barshim has gone over 2.40m on 11 occasions, the most in the category.

Woo has made the leap to a jumper that Barsim recognises.

The defeat left Woo’s head-to-head record at 2-10, but beating Barshim more than once is a great achievement for a high jumper.

But Woo wants more.

“I really enjoy competing with Barshim. He brings out the best in me,” he said. “Today, we both cleared the first round of 2.33m together, which made the competition interesting. In fact, my strategy was to get to 2.33m and then see what happens next. It went well until 2.33m, but I failed in the first round of 2.35m, which split the standings.”

“The result of the Asian Games is disappointing, but next year is the Paris Olympics,” he said, adding, “At the Paris Olympics, (Budapest World Championships No. 1) Jean-Marco Tambéry and (Asian Games No. 1) Varshim will make me scared.” He expressed his desire for ‘Olympic gold’.

Woo made his breakthrough as a world-class jumper at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he finished fourth at 2.35m.

Since then, he has won the 2022 World Indoor Championships (2.34m), finished second at the Outdoor World Championships (2.35m) and won the 2023 Diamond League Final (2.35m), each time emphasising that “gold in Paris is the most important goal for me”.

Woo has already cleared the Paris Olympic standard (2.33m), effectively securing his place at the Games.

Woo, who missed out on the gold medal at the Asian Games, also held on to the thought of raising the Korean flag at its highest point in Paris. 슬롯