A late-arriving 'AG operational farce'... an absurd decision to hold a re-race, which was then reversed: 'Korean double crown almost missed' [Nagoya on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

Among the South Korean delegation at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya (Japan) Asian Games, the only double champions were canoe sprint representatives Jo Gwang-hee (33) and Kim Hyo-bin (25), both from Ulsan Metropolitan City Government. They nearly ended up with just one gold medal.

This was because they could have been harmed by an absurd tournament operation during the K2 500m preliminary race that followed after winning the gold in the men's kayak four-person (K4) 500m event held on the 24th at the canoe course at Miyo Lake in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

On the 26th, during a press conference held at Korea House in Nagoya, Japan, Kim Hyo-bin reflected on the situation where they almost suffered damage during the K2 preliminary race when asked about disappointing tournament operations at this event.

Kim Hyo-bin said, "A siren suddenly went off 150 meters after the start of the preliminary race. We didn't hear it and only learned from staff that a re-race was required after we crossed the finish line." He added, "We asked why a re-race was necessary but received no explanation. We were simply told to go back while out of breath."

He continued, "We lodged a strong complaint and learned that a problem occurred with the Mongolian team, which was making its debut at this tournament, during the start process. We strongly argued, 'If there was a problem, it should have been caught early on; why address it in the middle?' Only then were we allowed to proceed directly to the finals without a re-race."

If a problem indeed occurred during the start process as claimed by the South Korean delegation side, stopping the race immediately after the start would have been appropriate. Given the nature of this event, which inevitably involves enormous physical exertion, sounding the siren in the middle of the race was problematic, and requiring athletes who had already completed the race to return for a re-race was also an issue.

However, confirming the re-race and notifying the South Korean delegation, then reversing the decision after receiving strong arguments, was not a normal procedure either. The problems with overall tournament operations that have persisted throughout this event were thus revealed at the canoe venue as well.

Kim Hyo-bin remarked, "If we had held a re-race, we would have had to compete in the preliminaries again. Rankings could have changed, and (medal competition) might have become difficult." Despite the late decision on the re-race and its subsequent reversal—a 'farce'—Jo Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin rose to the top in both K4 500m and K2 500m, securing the honor of being the first double champions for the South Korean delegation at this event.

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*This content was translated by AI.