 Sprinters race at Daegu stadium in the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting in 2008. In 30 days, the world’s best sprinters will run on the same track in the IAAF World Championships scheduled from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4. / Korea Times file |
By Yoon Chul
With a month remaining before the IAAF World Championships, the organizing committee is well-prepared to welcome the world’s athletes to Daegu. As the finishing touches are being applied before the athletics meet from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4, host Korea is ambitiously aiming to put more Korean athletes on the podium, shoulder-to-shoulder with world-class athletes.
Korea has grown immensely in several sports recently, but it has been lagging behind in athletics.
In an effort to help Korean athletes, the Korea Association of Athletics Federation (KAAF) introduced the “10-10” plan ahead of the Daegu World Championships.
Started last August, the plan envisions Korea joining the ranks of the top 10 in 10 events at the worlds, with a financial backing of 4.5 billion won from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
The 10 events are the men’s marathon, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, 110-meter hurdles, javelin, 4x100-meter relay and 20-kilometer race walk and the women’s long vault and pole vault.
Guangzhou Asian Games gold medalist Ji Young-jun is aiming for a medal in the men’s marathon after the 29-year-old took the gold there in November 2010, clocking in at two hours 11 minutes 11 seconds.
Ji is hoping to follow in the steps of Olympic gold medalist Hwang Young-jo, and set his personal record with a time of 2:08:30 at the 2009 Daegu International Marathon.
His preparations have been disrupted following a doping controversy. In mid-June, Korean marathon runners were alleged to have used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The Korea Anti Doping Association (KADA) subsequently looked into the case but found the claims to be untrue.
“They had some stress at that time but all the marathon runners are now in good shape. They have trained very hard. We hope to achieve our goal,” a KAAF official told The Korea Times.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay team is looking to make the final. In May, they set a new Korean record of 39.04 seconds at the Asian Grand Prix in Jiaxing, China. It was the first Korean record in 23 years.
The new time meant they qualified for the London 2012 Olympics as well as the World Championships. They have trained to quicken and smooth the baton hand-over, and insiders expect the Korean team to make the last round.
Past results show that such a goal is possible. In the previous World Championships in Berlin, 2009, the Jamaican team including Usain Bolt, won in 37.31 and the British team took bronze, clocking in at 38.02. Among the eight finalists, the French came in last at 39.21.
But the challenge for the Korean team will be in maintaining their top condition.
Juen Duck-hayng recently suffered a minor injury.
“He hasn’t sustained his best condition. We will try to get him back into shape and back on the track before the beginning of the world championships,” the KAAF official said.
Kim Hyun-sub is another strong medal contender. He was third in the 20-kilometer race walk last season and has the ninth fastest time in the world this season, having set a personal and Korean best of 1:19:31 in March at the 2011 Asian Championships 20km Walk in Japan.
At the Asian Games, Kim had been expected to top the podium but he had to settle for silver in Doha in 2006 and bronze in Guangzhou last year.
Asian Summer Games gold medalist Kim Deok-hyun hopes to challenge in the long and triple jump.
He recently won the triple jump with a 16.99-meter leap at the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting 2011 in May.
In the previous worlds in Berlin, Phillips Idowu jumped 17.73 meters for gold.
Park Tae-kyung and Choi Yoon-hee will need to improve on their personal bests to stand any chance in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and women’s pole vault respectively. They will take part at the Daegu World Athletics despite not achieving the required mark as host nation athletes automatically qualify for each event.
“Since we finished the Guangzhou Asian Games last year, the mood is good. We will put all our efforts into making the 10-10 plan succeed.” the KAAF official added.
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