Korea fail to advance in men's 4x100-meter medley

Korea failed to advance to the final in the men’s 4x100m medley relay on Saturday, finishing in seventh place in the second heat at Paris La Defense Arena.

Swimmers plunge for a men's 4x100-meter medley relay heat in Paris on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea failed to advance to the final in the men’s 4x100m medley relay on Saturday, finishing in seventh place in the second heat at Paris La Defense Arena.

Korea’s Lee Ju-ho, Choi Dong-yeol, Kim Ji-hun and Hwang Sun-woo combined for a time of 3:34.68, 3.06 seconds behind heat leaders the United States.

Spain, who had been slightly ahead of Korea through the third segment of the relay, were disqualified, pushing the Korean squad up to seventh.

Korea’s time put them in 13th place overall of the 16 competing countries, ahead of Japan, Switzerland and Spain, but well behind the top eight that qualify for the final. France led the overall pack with a time of 3:31.36.

Saturday’s relay ends the swimming competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics for Korea. Although they failed to advance in the final event, Korea does leave the tournament with the country’s first Olympic medal in 12 years. Freestyle swimmer Kim Woo-min won bronze in the 400 meters in Paris, becoming the second Korean swimmer ever to medal at an Olympics and the first since Park Tae-hwan in 2012.

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