Hwang Seon-woo (18, Seoul Chego) finished fifth in the men's 100m freestyle final at the Olympics, the highest score in 69 years for an Asian athlete.
Hwang Seon-woo placed 5th in the men's freestyle 100m final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at the Aquatics Center in Tokyo, Japan on the morning of the 29th, with a time of 47.82 seconds.
Although he failed to win a medal, it is the best performance for an Asian athlete in the men's 100m freestyle at the Olympics in 69 years since Hiroshi Suzuki (Japan), who won a silver medal at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Since then, no Asian athlete has won a medal in the men's 100m freestyle event.
Hwang Seon-woo is the first Korean athlete to reach the men's 100m freestyle final at the Olympics, and it is the first Asian athlete in 65 years since Atsushi Dani of Japan at the 1956 Melbourne Games.
Dani was in 7th place at the time.
Hwang Seon-woo set a new Asian and world junior record of 47.56 seconds in the semifinals held yesterday morning, and advanced to the final where 8 people competed in 4th place out of 16 people.
The men's 100m freestyle world record was set by César Cielo (Brazil) in 46.91.
(Photo = Yonhap News)