‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyeok (27, Yongin City Hall) won the silver medal in the first competition of the 2023 season.
Woo Sang-hyuk, a Korean high jump leader, recorded 2m24 in the men’s high jump final at the 10th Asian Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan on the 12th (local time), ranking second after Ryoichi Akamatsu (28, Japan), who surpassed 2m28.
Woo Sang-hyeok’s rival and온라인카지노 ‘the best active jumper’ Mutaz Esa Barsim (32, Qatar) did not participate in the Asian tournament, and Woo Sang-hyeok was selected as ‘the number one candidate for the championship’.
However, Woo Sang-hyeok was still in the stage of lifting his body. On top of that, Akamatsu performed well, exceeding his personal best tie of 2m28, and Woo Sang-hyeok was pushed to second place.
Barsim won the men’s high jump title at the Asian Indoor Championships five times in a row from the 2010 Tehran Games in Iran to the 2018 Tehran Games. However, he did not participate in this tournament.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Woo Sang-hyeok, who was considered a ‘sure candidate for the championship’, showed overwhelming performance at the beginning of the game.
Woo Sang-hyeok, who won a ticket to the finals with just one jump by crossing 2m14 in the first round in the preliminary round held on the 11th, passed 2m10 in the final with 9 players and lightly crossed 2m15, 2m20, and 2m24 in the first round.
Woo Sang-hyeok and Akamatsu were the only players who did not fail even once up to 2m24.
However, Woo Sang-hyeok lightly touched the bar with his butt in the first round of 2m28. It was his first failure this season.
Woo Sang-hyeok raised the bar to 2m30 when Akamatsu succeeded in reaching 2m28 in the second period.
It was his will to aim for ‘single first place’ rather than ‘joint championship’.
The high jump is over if the athlete fails three times in a row.
Woo Sang-hyeok induced a response from the crowd with his unique smile, and then started the second round of 2m30, but failed to overcome it. He also failed in his last 3rd try, so the 2nd place was confirmed.
Meanwhile, Woo Sang-hyeok plans to return to Korea on the 14th and continue training in Korea while setting up a schedule to participate in the Diamond League of the World Association of Athletics Federations. The first tournament in 2023 started with a second place, but Woo Sang-hyeok is planning to improve his skills toward the ‘real goal’ of this season, the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.