Choi Dong-yeol fails to make semifinals in men's 100m breaststroke

Choi Dong-yeol competes in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke heats at the Paris Olympics at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France on Saturday. [NEWS1]

Choi Dong-yeol failed to reach the semifinals of the men’s 100-meter breaststroke at the Paris Olympics after managing a fifth place in Heat 5 and finishing in 18th place out of 36 with a time of 1:00.17 on Saturday.

Choi needed a top-16 finish at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, but failed to achieve the result.

Kamminga Arno of the Netherlands finished in first place in Heat 5 with a time of 59.39 seconds, followed by Imoudu Melvin’s 59.49 and Qin Haiyang’s 59.58.

Choi’s failure to reach the semifinals ends Korea’s chance of medaling in the discipline on Saturday, as he was the only swimmer in the discipline for the country.

Although his chance to medal in the discipline ended, Team Korea has some strong contenders at this year’s Olympics like Hangzhou Asian Games and world championships gold medalists Kim Woo-min and Hwang-Sun-woo, who are set to compete in other disciplines like the men’s 400-meter freestyle.

If either of them medal, he will be the second Korean swimmer to medal at the Olympics after Korean swimming legend Park Tae-hwan.
Kim was due to compete in the men’s 400-meter freestyle heats later on Saturday as of press time.

Pool events run through Aug. 4, with the two-day marathon swimming to take place from Aug. 8 to 9.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]