South Korea finished sixth in its first-ever final of an Olympic swimming relay race on Tuesday, unable to overcome an early gap.
The team of Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo posted a time of 7:07.26 in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay final at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, just west of the French capital.
This was South Korea’s first appearance in any Olympic swimming relay final. The four swimmers hoped to make even more history by reaching the podium.
However, South Korea ranked last among nine finalists after Yang’s leadoff split of 1:49.84. Hwang, as the anchor, dragged the team out of the cellar over the final stretch for a more respectable finish.
The same four swimmers set a national record and an Asian record time of 7:01.73 in winning the gold medal at last year’s Asian Games, but they were nearly six seconds off less than a year later.
Source: Yonhap News Agency