Kim Woo-min sets Paris stage with Korea's first World Aquatics gold since 2011

Kim Woo-min’s victory in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Qatar on Sunday marked Korea's first gold medal in the discipline since swimming legend Park Tae-hwan at the 2011 tournament.

Kim’s time of 3 minutes and 42.71 seconds, his personal best, came just short of Park’s 2011 record of 3 minutes of 42.04 seconds. 

Sunday was a notable improvement from Kim's performance in the same discipline at the 2023 World Championships where he finished in fifth place with a time of 3 minutes and 43.92 seconds.  

Kim’s 400-meter freestyle gold may be just the beginning of his career.  

The 22-year-old came to prominence at last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, winning four medals — three gold and one silver — in total.

He won gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, 400-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle, and he took silver in the 1500-meter freestyle.

Kim, alongside teammates Hwang Sun-woo, Yang Jae-hoon and Lee Ho-joon, won Korea's first-ever Asiad gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle, setting an Asian record of 7 minutes and 1.73 seconds in the process.  

Kim may see more bling at this year’s World Championships, which runs until Feb. 18. He was set to compete in the 800-meter freestyle on Tuesday as of press time and in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay on Friday.  

Since Park in 2011, no Korean swimmer had medaled at the World Championships until Hwang Sun-woo took silver in the men’s 200-meter freestyle at the 2022 tournament.  

Kim Su-ji’s bronze in diving — at the 2019 World Championships’ women’s 1-meter springboard — was Korea’s only other medal after Park's at the tournament before Hwang’s silver in 2022.   

Kim Woo-min’s impressive performance at this year’s World Championships is a bright sign, as he looks to compete at the Paris Olympics, set to start in July.  

He has made it clear that he wants to medal at the Games.  

“I did not expect my record to be this good, and I think this will have a positive impact at the Paris Olympics,” Kim said after Sunday’s race. “I am going to train harder to medal at the bigger stage, the Olympics.  

“A good result will follow, if I train extra hard and handle it well.”  

The upcoming Olympics will be his second time competing at the Games, having previously participated at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He competed in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay but failed to reach the final.

A medal for Kim in Paris would be a historic moment for Korea as well. Korea has not been successful in swimming at the past Olympics, having only secured four medals — one gold and three silver — in the sport so far.

Park remains the only Korean swimmer to win an Olympic gold, topping the podium at the 2008 Beijing Games after winning the 400-meter freestyle.    

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]