(LEAD) (Asiad) Kim Min-seop wins bronze in men's 200m butterfly swimming

In Tokyo, 22-year-old swimmer Kim Min-seop secured a bronze medal in the men's 200-meter butterfly event at the Asian Games. He finished third, clocking a time of 1:55.94 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, narrowly missing out on gold by just one-hundredth of a second. Chinese Taipei's Wang Kuan-hung claimed the gold with a time of 1:55.05, while China's Xu Fang secured the silver with a time of 1:55.65.

Kim had previously earned silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay, participating in the heats for both events. During the butterfly final, Kim touched the 100-meter mark in second place, holding onto silver for the remaining 50 meters. However, he struggled in the final stretch, with a last split of 30.74 seconds ranking sixth among the 10 competitors in the race.

Kim expressed his happiness, stating that it was his first time breaking the 1:55 barrier since the 2024 Olympics. He credited his parents and teammates for their support in the stands, and upon seeing his name listed as third on the board, he realized he had won the bronze medal by just 0.01 seconds.