Woo Sang-hyeok falls behind Barshim for high jump silver

Korea's Woo Sang-hyeok competes during the men's high jump final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Wednesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korea’s Woo Sang-hyeok took silver in the highly-anticipated men’s high jump final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Wednesday, falling behind champion and rival Mutaz Barshim of Qatar, who matched his own Games record.

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Woo, 27, cleared 2.33 meters on his first attempt, securing silver. Barshim, 34, cleared 2.35 meters, also on his first attempt, to meet his Games record of 2.35 meters at the Incheon Games in 2014.

Japan’s Tomohiro Shinno took bronze, clearing 2.29 meters.

But with the other athletes unable to clear any height above 2.3 meters, the final jumps were a contest between Woo and Barshim, who famously agreed to share the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi after each athlete cleared 2.37 meters but neither could beat the next height, 2.39.

Woo entered the Games as a medal favorite and a national athletics jewel. Weeks earlier, Woo won the high jump contest at the Diamond League Final, one of the most prestigious athletics awards, becoming the first Korean to achieve the coveted title in any discipline.

Such is Woo's popularity back home that Korean broadcaster KBS split-screened the men's high jump final with the closely-watched Korea-Uzbekistan football semifinal on Wednesday.

Woo is currently the fourth-ranked high jumper in the world with Barshim in second place. Last summer, Woo rose to the top of the rankings after taking silver at the World Athletics Championships in July 2022, becoming the first Korean to top any track and field world ranking.

Back in 2021, Woo broke a 24-year-old Korean high jump record, clearing the bar at 2.35 meters during the men's high jump finals at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he ended just shy of a medal, taking fourth.

His enthusiasm and visible excitement despite missing the podium in Tokyo instantly made him one of the most popular Korean athletes and the poster boy of a shift in focus in Korea from winning at all costs to celebrating individual efforts and good sportsmanship. On Wednesday, he hyped up a cheering crowd before his final attempts, turning to wave even when he failed to clear the bar on his last jumps, which knocked him out of gold.

Korea has so far won three medals in athletics — one silver and two bronze. Woo’s silver-medal finish followed a surprising bronze-medal win by the men’s 4x100 meter relay team on Tuesday, setting a new Korean record with a time of 38.74 seconds and outpacing Thailand by a hair for the podium spot.

The athletics schedule wraps up Thursday with the men’s and women’s marathon races.

BY MARY YANG AND JIM BULLEY [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]