Lee Ju-ho misses final in men's 200-meter backstroke

Korea’s Lee Ju-ho missed out on a spot in the men’s 200-meter backstroke Friday on Wednesday, finishing in 11th place in the semifinals.

Lee Ju-ho of Korea competes in the men 200-meter backstroke semifinal at the Paris La Defense Arena in Paris on Wednesday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Korea’s Lee Ju-ho missed out on a spot in the men’s 200-meter backstroke Friday on Wednesday, finishing in 11th place in the semifinals.

Lee finished in fifth place in the first semifinal, dropping to 11th on the overall ranking. The top eight swimmers advance, with Nos. nine and 10 as reserves.

Lee finished with a time of 1:56.76, exactly eight seconds behind leader Hubert Kos of Hungary.

Wednesday’s race rounds off Lee’s Olympics. He failed to make it out of the heats in the men’s 100-meter backstroke earlier in the week, before advancing as far as the semifinals in the 200 meters.

That result mimics his performance in Tokyo, where he reached the semis in the 200 meters and only the heats in the 100 meters.

Lee remains the Korean record holder across both distances.

Korea have never been a swimming powerhouse, with only two Olympic medalists in the country’s history — Park Tae-hwan and Kim Woo-min.

Korea will be back in action in the pool on Thursday as Lee Eun-ji competes in the women’s 200-meter backstroke and Ji Yu-chan races in the spring 50-meter freestyle.

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