Woo Sang-hyeok headlines Korea's three-man Olympics athletics squad

Korea is heading to the French capital with a three-person track and field team, its smallest since 1976 when Korea sent zero athletes in the sport.

Woo Sang-hyeok clears 2.21 meters at the men's track and field high jump final at the National Sports Festival in Mokpo, South Jeolla on Oct. 18, 2023. [YONHAP]

Woo Sang-hyeok will highlight Korea’s athletics squad for a third straight Olympics as he looks to reach the podium in Paris.

Korea is heading to the French capital with a three-person track and field team, its smallest since 1976 when Korea sent zero athletes in the sport.

Alongside Woo, Kim Jang-woo will compete in men’s triple jump while Choe Byeong-kwang competes in men’s race walking. No Korean woman qualified for any athletics event.

Woo will be at the Olympics for the third time in his career, earning fourth place in his latest stunt in Tokyo. He has also shown brilliance at the Asian Championships and at the Asian Games, earning several gold and silver medals for the nation in high jump.

Woo Sang-hyeok speaks to reporters at the French National Defense Sports Center in Fontainebleau, France ahead of the Paris Olympics on Sunday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

His most recent stunt was at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March in Glasgow, Scotland where he earned a bronze medal with a height of 2.28 meters.

Woo’s outdoor record sits at 2.35 meters, which he first cleared in Tokyo in 2021, and he has a personal best 2.36-meter indoor record. He won the men's high jump at the 2022 indoor championships and became the first Korean to win the Diamond League Final, one of the most prestigious track and field awards, in any discipline last September with a 2.35-meter jump.

Kim will be representing Korea at the Olympics for the first time. He won a bronze medal in triple jump last fall at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Kim Jang-woo competes in the men's triple jump final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou, China on Oct. 3, 2023. [YONHAP]

Choe is returning in the men’s race walk for his third Olympics, coming in 37th in Tokyo and in 57th in Rio. Men’s race walking runs 20 kilometers on the track.

Athletics will run from Aug. 1 to 11, with men’s race walk kicking things off on Aug. 1. Qualifiers for the men’s high jump and triple jump will take place on Aug. 7 with triple jump finals taking place on Aug. 9 and high jump finals landing on Aug. 10.

Korea has two Olympic medals in athletics.

BY MARY YANG, KEVIN CHUNG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]