Nagoya: South Korea clinched the gold medal in the men's modern pentathlon team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, securing its title defense successfully. The event took place at Anjo Sports Park, located just southeast of Nagoya, Japan.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean athletes Jun Woong-tae, Lee Jong-hyeon, and Seo Chang-wan amassed a combined score of 4,779 points across five disciplines: fencing, swimming, obstacle course racing, and the laser run, which combines running and shooting. This marked South Korea's second consecutive triumph in the team event, following their victory at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The scores from the top three athletes of each country in the individual competition were aggregated to determine the team rankings. Jun Woong-tae finished second, Lee Jong-hyeon third, and Seo Chang-wan fifth, resulting in a total score of 4,779 points. This performance outpaced China, which scored 4,768 points, and Kazakhstan with 4,647 points.
In the individual competition, Jun secured the silver medal with 1,595 points, just behind China's Li Liuchang, who scored 1,598 points. Lee Jong-hyeon claimed the bronze with 1,593 points. Although Jun aimed for his third consecutive Asiad gold in the individual event, his efforts contributed significantly to South Korea's team title defense.
During the competition, after initial events like fencing, obstacle course racing, and swimming, Seo led the laser run but fell behind due to a leg cramp. Jun, who started the laser run in ninth place after a less than stellar performance in the earlier events, managed to finish second by accelerating in the final meters. Lee closely followed to finish third, while Seo completed the race in fifth place.
Seo's injury prevented his participation in the medal ceremony for the team event, leaving Jun and Lee to represent the team on the podium.