◆ 2024 Paris Olympics ◆
“I want to get to the top of the podium this time.”
Woo Sang-hyuk, who lightly advanced to the men’s high jump final at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, did not hide his desire to win.
In the men’s high jump preliminaries at the Paris Olympics held in Stade de France, France on Sunday (Korea time), Woo surpassed the 2m27 mark after the second period. Woo, who tied for third place among 31 players, successfully secured a ticket to the final, which is only given to the top 12.
It was smooth, literally. Woo successfully completed the 2m15 race at the first try, jumping both 2m20 and 2m24. After finishing the 2m24, Woo said with confidence, “Let’s go!”
Woo Sang-hyuk then touched the bar in the first period of the 2m27 that followed, but made it to the final in the second period.
According to Yonhap News, Woo advanced to the final by showing 50 percent of what he had prepared for the past three years after the Tokyo Olympics. “I’m so happy to have a great day. I’m so happy to keep my promise to my Korean fans who cheered for me in the evening in Korean time,” Woo said with a bright smile. “I thought we should play the preliminary like the final since it’s the Olympics. I’m so glad that we finished the preliminary well.”
Woo has been imprinting his name on the world beyond Korea. He was eliminated from the preliminary round (2m16) at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil, but he ranked fourth (2m35) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Since then, Woo has renewed Korean track and field history by winning the 2022 Belgrade World Indoor Athletics Championships (2m34), the 2022 Oregon World Athletics Championships (2m35), the 2023 Oregon Diamond League Final winner (2m35), and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games runner-up (2m33). 안전놀이터
And Woo Sang-hyuk showed off his good performance on this day as well, raising expectations for his performance in the final.
Woo said, “I worked really hard for the past three years with coach Kim Do-kyun (of Yongin City Hall). The coach said, ‘This year’s best jump came out,’ and I feel the same way. I’ve competed in many competitions so far, and I really like the track here. It’s a perfect track for me,” Woo said. “In Tokyo, I was in fourth place, which was a joy. I want to be on top of the podium if I can do this in Paris. I will sing the Korean national anthem once.”
It is definitely the right time to win the title. Strong rival Mutaz Essa Varshim of Qatar complained of calf pain in the first leg of the 2m 27th leg of the preliminary round. Although he succeeded after the second leg, this could pose a major variable. Besides this, Jubon Harrison of the U.S., who was classified as one of the “big four” players along with Woo Sang-hyuk, Varshim, and Jean-Marco Tamberi of Italy, failed to pass the 2m24, and Tamberi, who co-chaired with Varshim at the 2020 Tokyo Games, also failed the 2m27 three times, winning the final after hardships.
“It was difficult to get up early in the morning because the preliminary round was held in the morning (local time), but the jump was the best this season. I was happy to have the Olympic Games in front of nearly 100,000 fans (actually 80,000),” Woo said, adding, “I will run higher with pride as a Korean track and field athlete in the final round.” Attention is focusing on whether Woo will be able to write a new history in the men’s high jump final at 2 a.m. on the 11th.
