Ha Jee-min wins S. Korea's first gold in sailing at Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korean sailor Ha Jee-min secured his nation's first gold medal in sailing at the Asian Games on Friday. The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games witnessed Ha triumphing in the men's dinghy event at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor in Gamagori, located 50 kilometers southeast of the primary host city, Nagoya.

This marks Ha's fourth Asian Games gold medal in the event, with previous victories at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 editions. A silver medal from the 2022 Asian Games rounds out his haul. In contrast, Hong Kong's Halliday Nicholas Bezy claimed silver, while Malaysia's Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy secured bronze.

The competition followed a specific scoring system. Sailors were awarded points based on their finishing positions in each race of the opening series. The 10 sailors with the lowest cumulative scores progressed to a two-race final, where their worst race score was disregarded. Ha led the standings after the initial series, advancing to the final.

He finished third in the first final race and sixth in the second, attaining a total of nine penalty-free points. Halliday, on the other hand, earned 11 points after finishing first and third in the final races.