Injured swimmer pulls out of 2 races

In the wake of battling a shoulder injury during his initial two races at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, swimmer Kim Woo-min decided to withdraw from his subsequent two competitions on Wednesday. The Korea Swimming Federation announced that Kim will not be defending his gold medal in the men's 800-meter freestyle event, set to take place on Thursday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Kim had also pulled out of the men's 200m freestyle heats earlier on Wednesday. Following a last-place finish in the 1,500m freestyle final on Tuesday in Tokyo, Kim revealed he had been contending with a partially torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He had contributed to South Korea's bronze medal in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay on Monday.

Kim is South Korea's premier mid-distance swimmer. The 25-year-old had claimed the world title and Olympic bronze medal in the 400m freestyle in 2024, and a world bronze medal in the same distance in 2025. At the 2023 Asian Games, Kim was the sole South Korean swimmer to secure three gold medals, claiming titles in the 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, and 4x200m freestyle relay events. Kim expressed hope to participate following Tuesday's race.