Обсуждение участника:3-time Asian Games Korean MVPs Kim Woo-min and Lim Shi-hyun

South Korea's '42 gold medals' finish in 3rd place overall

After 16 days of intense competition, the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games concluded on Monday. South Korea finished third overall with 42 gold, 59 silver and 89 bronze medals, including the last one added the previous day when the men's soccer team defeated arch-rivals Japan to win its first-ever triple gold medal. The South Koreans finished second to Japan (52 gold, 67 silver, 69 bronze) for the second consecutive time after the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. South Korea (190) finished ahead of Japan (188) in overall medals. Five years ago at the Asian Games, South Korea won 28 fewer medals than Japan. The top spot went to host China (201 gold, 111 silver, 71 bronze). China has finished on top 11 times since the 1982 Games in New Delhi.

South Korea fell short of its target of 50 gold medals, but won a record six gold medals in swimming, brightening its prospects for next year's Paris Olympics. It is the first time South Korean swimming has won more gold medals at an Asian Games than Japan (five). Fencing, which also won six gold medals, raised expectations for the Paris Games.

Kim Woo-min (swimming) and Kim Im-hyun (archery) were named the Korean men's and women's most valuable athletes (MVPs) of the Games. Together, they won three medals. They are the third Korean swimmers to win three Asian Games titles after Choi Yun-hee (1982) and Park Tae-hwan (2006, 2010). In archery, it had been 37 years since the 1986 Seoul Games.

The next Asian Games, the 20th Asian Games, will be held in September 2026 in Nagoya and other cities in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. 19가이드03