By Kim Boram
HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) — South Korea achieved its first gold medal in men’s sailing at the 19th Asian Games in China on Wednesday.
Cho Won-woo was the victor of the men’s RS:X windsurfing at Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre in Ningbo, east of the host city of Hangzhou. After the 14th race, he acquired the most race points and was presented with the gold medal, while Eabad Ali of India came in second and Muhammad Izzuddin bin Abdul Rani of Malaysia was third.
Cho’s gold medal was declared Monday after the 12th race, and was officially presented on Wednesday with other divisions in sailing.
This is South Korea’s first gold medal from sailing at the ongoing Asian Games.
South Korea's windsurfer Cho Won-woo is seen in this photo provided by the Korea Sailing Federation. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Cho had the least penalties after the 12th race, which provided him with sufficient distance from the other competitors even without the remaining two races.
Cho will be the last RS:X gold medalist at Asiad since the discipline will be taken off the official Asian Games competitions list from the 2026 edition. It will also be replaced with iQFoil at the Paris Olympics next year.
“It’s more meaningful that this is the last race at the Asian Games. There will be no more gold medalists in this event after me,” he said. “I like the title, the last gold medalist.”
South Korea's windsurfer Cho Won-woo is seen in this photo provided by the Korea Sailing Federation. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)