(ATTN: ADDS results of other competitions in last 4 paras, new photo)
By Kim Boram
HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) — South Korea earned its initial gold medal in men’s sailing at the 19th Asian Games in China on Wednesday.
Cho Won-woo clinched the top spot of the men’s RS:X windsurfing at Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre in Ningbo, east of the host city of Hangzhou.
Following the 14th race, which concluded Tuesday, Cho obtained the most race points for the gold medal, with Eabad Ali of India in second and Muhammad Izzuddin bin Abdul Rani of Malaysia in third.
Cho’s gold medal was confirmed Monday after the 12th race, but his medal was officially presented on Wednesday along with other subdivisions 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)
After the 12th race, Cho finished first with the lowest penalties, which helped him keep enough distance from other competitors even without the remaining two races.
Cho will be the last RS:X gold medalist at Asiad as the discipline will be removed from the official Asian Games competitions list from the next 2026 edition. It will be also 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 no longer be 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)
In addition, South Korea added four more medals in sailing — two silver and bronze each.
Ha Jee-min won silver in the men’s single-handed dinghy race, following Lo Jun Han Ryan of Singapore. Ha had won the sailing competition since 2010 but couldn’t make it four in a row in China.
In the men’s iQFoil windsurfing race, South Korea’s Lee Tae-hoon came in second, while Lee Young-eun took bronze in the women’s formula kite competition.
South Korea’s mixed dinghy 470 race team also garnered the bronze medal.
In sailing, participants receive points equal to their finish in each race. After all the fleet races have been completed, sailors can exclude their worst race score. The remaining scores will be totaled and the sailor with the lowest score wins the event.
South Korea's windsurfer Ha Jee-min is seen in this photo provided by the Korea Sailing Federation. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
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