Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min fail to reach 200-meter freestyle final

Hwang Sun-woo competes in the men's 200-meter freestyle semifinal at the Paris Olympics in Paris on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

Korean swimmers Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min failed to reach the final in the men’s 200-meter freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday, falling just short in a tight semifinal at Paris La Defense Arena in Paris.

The Korean pair finished in fifth and sixth place in the first semifinal, Hwang taking fifth at 1:45.92 with Kim finishing in 1:46.58. Hwang’s result put him in ninth place on the overall standings, missing out on a spot in the final by just one place.

Hwang led the race through the first 100 meters, slipping back on the penultimate length and falling further in the final 50. Luke Hobson of the United States finished first at 1:45.19, with Lukas Maertens of Germany, Danas Rapsys of Lithuania and Matthew Richards of Great Britain taking the top four places to reach the final.

Sunday’s disappointment comes a day after Kim became the second Korean swimmer ever to medal at an Olympics, taking bronze in the 400-meter freestyle.

Kim, 22, finished with a time of 3:42.50 in that race, narrowly behind gold medalist Lukas Maertens of Germany with a time of 3:41.78 and silver medalist Eljiah Winnington of Australia at 3:42.21.

The bronze medal makes Kim the first Korean to medal in an Olympic swimming race since Park Tae-hwan who won gold in the men’s 400-meter freestyle and silver in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as silvers over both disciplines at the 2012 London Olympics.

Kim still has two races to go, the 800 meters and 1500 meters, while Hwang, who reached the final for the 200 meters and 100 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is still scheduled to compete in the 100 meters in Paris.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]