Korean diving's 'signboard' Haram Woo, who overcame a back injury, won his first gold medal at the National Sports Festival, his return stage.
Ha-ram Woo, who represented Busan, took first place among 12 people with a total of 418.40 in the 6th attempt in the men's 1m springboard final at the 103rd National Sports Festival held at Ulsan Munsu Indoor Pool on the morning of the 9th.
Jae-kyung Lee (23, Gwangju Metropolitan City Sports Association) took the silver medal with 389.55 points, and Jin-yong “old man” Kim Jin-yong (33, Gangwon Provincial Office) took the bronze medal with 385.40 points.
Haram Woo, who is aiming for multiple gold medals by participating in four events, made up for the disappointing start of staying in 4th place among the 7 teams with a total score of 361.11 points in the 3m synchro diving final the previous day with a gold medal.
Haram Woo participated in the World Championships four times in a row, from the Barcelona Games in Spain in 2013 to the Games in Gwangju 2019, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he also raised his dream of winning an Olympic medal for the first time in history by placing fourth in the men's 3m springboard, the best performance ever.
Following the momentum, he was aiming for a medal at the International Swimming Federation (FINA) World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary in June, but he injured his back right before departure and had to focus on rehabilitation for a while.
Haram Woo will compete in the platform synchro diving final on the afternoon of the 9th and the main event, the 3m springboard final, tomorrow afternoon.
(Photo = Yonhap News)