South Korea's first double crown champion emerges! Canoeists Jo Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin win gold in both four-person and two-person kayak events [Aichi Nagoya AG]

*This content was translated by AI.

The first double crown champion for the South Korean delegation at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya (Japan) Asian Games has been crowned.

The men's kayak double (K2) 500m gold medal at the event held on the 25th at the Miyoshi Miyoshiho Canoe Course in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, was claimed by the canoe sprint duo of Jo Gwang-hee (33) and Kim Hyo-bin (25), both from Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall.

Jo Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin crossed the finish line with a time of 1 minute 31.859 seconds, overtaking Japan's Tanada Daishi and Tanaka Masaya by 0.317 seconds to stand atop the podium.

The Jo Gwang-hee-Kim Hyo-bin duo completed the first 250m segment in 43.73 seconds and the remaining 250m in 48.129 seconds. While their segment rankings were second and third respectively, their overall time was the fastest.

Jo Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin, who had previously won gold together with Jang Sang-won and Choi Min-kyu in the kayak four-person (K4) 500m event the day before, became the first double crown champions for the South Korean delegation at this tournament.

This marks Jo Gwang-hee's fourth Asian Games appearance. Following his gold medals in the men's kayak single (K1) 200m at the 2014 Incheon Games and again at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang (Indonesia) Games, he secured his third and fourth individual Asian Games gold medals consecutively. He also shed the regret of finishing with silver medals in both K2 500m and K4 500m events at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

Kim Hyo-bin claimed double crown honors at his first Asian Games appearance. Having made his international debut at last year's Nanchang Asian Championships, where he failed to medal, he later earned silver medals in both K4 500m and K2 500m events at this year's Hefei Asian Championships. Now, he has added an Asian Games gold medal to his achievements.

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*This content was translated by AI.