(Asiad) Choe Byeong-kwang wins race walk bronze for S. Korea's 1st athletics medal in Nagoya

Nagoya, Japan — South Korea secured its maiden athletics medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, as Choe Byeong-kwang clinched the bronze in the men's half marathon race walk. Choe completed the race in 1:28:35, finishing behind Shi Shengji of China, who won gold in 1:23:32, and Toshikazu Yamanishi of Japan, who claimed silver in 1:28:01.

This marked Choe's fourth Asian Games appearance but his first medal at the age of 35. Choe expressed his happiness and emotional response, stating that this could be his last Asian Games. He believes younger athletes will achieve even better results in the future. At the start of the 21.0975 km race, Choe was in fourth place after the first 6 kilometers.

However, he climbed to fourth at the 7 km mark and moved into third with about 9 km remaining, ultimately securing the bronze medal. This marked the first day of athletics competitions at the ongoing Asian Games.