Hangzhou: Swimming silver medalist Kim Young-beom openly expressed disappointment over his performance in the men's 100m freestyle final at the Asian Games, acknowledging that his inexperience cost him the gold medal.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the 20-year-old South Korean swimmer found himself ahead during the final 25 meters of the race. Leading against Pan Zhanle of China, the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion, Kim was tantalizingly close to victory. However, he admitted to losing his rhythm and composure, ultimately finishing in 47.65 seconds, a mere 0.04 seconds behind Pan. Fellow South Korean swimmer Hwang Sun-woo secured the bronze with a time of 47.79.
Reflecting on his performance, Kim remarked, "For the first 75m, it was a perfect race. It was going way better than I ever thought possible. But over the final 25m, I was exposed as amateurish. I think I got too arrogant in the late stages." Despite his initial disappointment, Kim expressed a bittersweet sense of achievement, having finally secured an individual Asiad medal after previously winning two relay medals three years ago.
Kim shared his mixed emotions, stating, "I trained so hard to make sure something like this would not happen here. This only shows I am still an amateur. Honestly, I am pretty upset. But then again, to finally have an individual medal means so much to me. We had some world-class swimmers in this 100m final and I am proud of coming in second place there."
In a moment of sportsmanship, Pan Zhanle acknowledged Kim's efforts with a thumbs-up while passing by in the mixed zone. Kim humorously admitted to language barriers but mentioned his attempts to convey a message to Pan non-verbally. "I have tried to project this look that says, 'Hey, I am pretty good, too, and I am shooting for gold medals here,'" said Kim, adding with optimism that both he and Sun-woo's performances promise strong relay prospects for South Korea in future competitions.