SEOUL — South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min clinched the gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Qatar, marking the country's first world swimming champion in 13 years.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim achieved a personal best time of 3:42.71 at the Aspire Dome in Doha, edging out the 2022 world champion, Elijah Winnington of Australia, by 0.15 second. Lukas Martens of Germany secured the bronze, making it his second consecutive bronze at the world championships. At 22, Kim becomes the second South Korean to win a world title in swimming, joining Park Tae-hwan, who won the 400m freestyle world titles in 2007 and 2011 and the Olympic gold in 2008. Kim expressed his surprise and gratitude for his gold medal, highlighting his unexpected victory in a competitive field that included most of the top contenders, despite the absence of the 2023 world champion, Samuel Short of Australia. This victory follows Kim's first Asian Games gold medal, establishing him as a strong contender for the upcoming Paris Olympics. Kim's performance in Doha, where he led from the early stages of the race, underscores his potential for future success on the global stage.