Kim Woo-min takes bronze in 400-meter freestyle, becomes second Korean ever to medal in Olympic swimming

Kim Woo-min became the second Korean ever to medal in Olympic swimming on Saturday, claiming bronze in the men’s 400-meter freestyle in a triumphant start for a young Korean swimming squad at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Korea's Kim Woo-min competes in the men's 400-meter freestyle final at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris on Saturday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Kim Woo-min became the second Korean ever to medal in Olympic swimming on Saturday, claiming bronze in the men’s 400-meter freestyle in a triumphant start for a young Korean swimming squad at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kim, 22, finished with a time of 3:42.50, narrowly behind gold medalist Lukas Maertens of Germany with a time of 3:41.78 and silver medalist Eljiah Winnington of Australia at 3:42.21.

Kim got off to a fast start in the opening 50 meters, briefly challenging Maertens for the lead and holding on to second through 200 meters. Kim slipped back to third in the second half of the race, seeing off a late sprint challenge from Samuel Short of Australia to hold on to the bronze medal spot. Short finished 0.14 seconds behind in fourth.

The bronze medal makes Kim the first Korean to medal in an Olympic swimming race since Park Tae-hwan who won gold in the men’s 400-meter freestyle and silver in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as silvers over both disciplines at the 2012 London Olympics.

Korea's Kim Woo-min poses with his bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Park still holds the Korean record in the 400-meter freestyle, at 3:41.53.

Park and now Kim are the only Koreans ever to medal in swimming at an Olympics.

Korea is hoping for more success at this year’s Games, with a strong squad including Kim and men’s 200-meter world champion Hwang Sun-woo.

Kim — who arrived at the Olympics having won the 400-meter gold at the World Championships — has the busiest schedule of all the swimmers on the Korean national team. He will represent Korea in four freestyle events — 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and 1500-meter.

Hwang was the only Korean swimmer to reach a final at the Tokyo Olympics, in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle races, but failed to medal. This year, he will again compete in both events and spoke about wanting to show his “accumulated experience” from the last three years at the Paris Olympics during a press conference last month.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]