Olympic sailing becomes a one-man show for Busan's Ha Jee-min

Olympic Sports

Published: 24 Jul. 2024, 18:20

Olympic sailing becomes a one-man show for Busan's Ha Jee-min

Korean sailor Ha Jee-min poses in Busan on July 8. [JOONGANG ILBO]

A lone Taegukgi will hit the waters off France’s southern coast for the sailing competition at the Paris Olympics, with Korea sending its sole representative in a dinghy.

Ha Jee-min, 35, will set sail in his fifth straight Olympics in the men’s dinghy competition, which runs from Aug. 1 to 6 in Marseille, France.

The Busan-based sailor qualified for the Paris Games by winning the ILCA 7 race at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyeres, France in April.

Sailing at the Paris Olympics spans 10 events — four men’s and four women’s competitions, along with two mixed contests.

Ha is set to race in a pool of 43 competitors with the ICLA 7, a single-handed racing dinghy.

Teetering off the edge of the boat, competitors use their body weight to steer the sail, change directions and accelerate.

It’s far from Min’s first rodeo with Olympic sailing, earning berths at the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games.

But it’s his first time going solo, as no other Korean sailors qualified for the Paris Olympics. And he’ll be far from the rest of the action, with sailing events taking place in Marseille — second only to surfing in Tahiti in terms of Olympic venues located furthest from Paris.

An aerial view of the Roucas Blanc Marina in Marseille, southern France [AFP/YONHAP]

Ha finished seventh in men’s laser, the single-handed men’s dinghy event at the previous Olympics, in Tokyo — his highest-ever finish at the Games.

He placed 28th in Beijing, 24th in London and 13th in Rio in the men’s one person dinghy.

Ha has three gold medals from the Asian Games, winning the dinghy event in 2010, 2014 and 2018, and earning a silver medal in Hangzhou last fall.

Korean sailor Ha Jee-min poses in Busan on July 8. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Sailors will race 10 times ahead of the medal event, where the top nine compete for a podium spot. Athletes receive one point for first place, two points for second place and so forth. Those with the fewest points qualify for the medal race.

Points in the medal race are doubled and added to the cumulative score, and the racer with the lowest score wins.

Korea has never won a medal in sailing at the Olympics.

BY MARY YANG, KEVIN CHUNG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]