Park pans second gold medal in the pool

Two down, one to go. Two out of three ain’t bad, but Park Tae-hwan, the 17-year-old Korean swimmer with two gold medals at the Doha Asian Games, isn’t ready to sit back and bask in his glory. His second Asiad gold came in the men’s 400-meter freestyle just after midnight yesterday. His winning time of 3:48.44 beat out China’s Zhang Lin and Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda. Park is one gold away from achieving his much-publicized goal of winning three gold medals in Doha. He would then become the first Korean swimmer to achieve the trifecta at an Asiad in 24 years. With two individual golds, plus two more bronze medals from relays, Park is still cranked up in Doha. “I expect to win gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle (today Korean time),” Park said after his 400-meter win. “I don’t want to disappoint people who are counting on me.” Asked if the races had taken a toll on his body, Park said his endurance will not be a problem. He did, however, admit that he missed an early opportunity to take the lead and had to make the extra push at the 350-meter turn; his winning time was nearly full three seconds worse than his personal best. “Since this is my first Asian Games, I wanted to focus on winning the gold medal, not necessarily trying to set the record,” said Park, who won his first gold in the 200-meter freestyle with an Asian record time. Park had the luxury of pacing himself for his medal, but over on the judo mat, things weren’t as simple for Kim Sung-bum. Kim got Korea’s fourth judo gold medal yesterday in the men’s open weight class, but he almost missed the final. In the round of 16, Kim scored an ippon (knockout) against Mongolia’s Tuvshinbayar Naidan, but the referee mistakenly gave the victory to Naidan. The Mongolian judoka was soon on his way to the locker room, but Kim and his coach, Jeon Gi-yeong, protested the call. It was later overturned. The gold medal match was no less difficult. His opponent, Seyed Mahmoudreza Miran Fashandi of Iran, entered the mat wearing a knee protector, which Kim claimed should have disqualified him immediately. Instead, the referee allowed Fashandi to remain in the final after removing the brace. Kim said he had to regroup himself after the incident, but with 10 seconds left, the referee gave Kim a questionable penalty score, which was quickly overturned on a protest by a judge. The Korean prevailed 49 seconds into the overtime. He later thanked his parents and grandparents for their support, and the gold gave him gratitude for other reasons, too. “With this gold medal, I won’t have to worry about military service anymore,” said Kim, who would have been asked to enter the service after the Asiad had he failed to win the gold in Doha. “Now that the service is out of the way, I will go for the Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008.” There was another odd twist in men’s artistic gymnastics. In the men’s pommel horse, South Korean Kim Soo-myun brought the nation its first gymnastics gold in Doha. But he wasn’t alone on the top of the podium. North Korea’s Jo Jong-chol and Japanese Hiroyuki Tomita all finished with identical scores of 15.375 points. World champion Xiao Qin and individual all-around winner Yang Wei of China fell during their routines and finished out of the medals. It was only the second time that three athletes shared the gold in a single event in the history of the Asian Games, which began in 1951 in New Delhi, India. In the 2002 Busan Asian Games, three gymnasts shared first place in the men’s horizontal bar. “I didn’t expect to win gold in this event,” said Kim, who was hoping for gold in men’s floor but wound up with bronze instead. “That makes this gold medal feel extra special.” Asked what he thought of the performance of the Chinese favorites, Kim joked that his prayer was answered when Xiao fell. Choi Jun-sang, a South Korean equestrian rider, added an individual gold in dressage to the team dressage gold he helped win on Monday. The women’s bowling trio team brought home the first bowling gold. A second Korean unit won bronze. The day had some downside as well. Female weightlifter Jang Mi-ran, former world record holder in +75-kilogram class, came up short against China’s Mu Shuangshuang. Mu lifted 139 kilograms in the snatch, breaking Jang’s record by one kilogram, and 178 kilograms in the clean and jerk, for 317 kilograms (699 pounds) total. Jang was four kilograms behind, and had to settle for silver in her second consecutive Asian Games. Elsewhere, China extended its huge lead over Japan and South Korea, reaching 68 gold medals. by Yoo Jee-ho