The decision to celebrate a fraction of a second in advance caused South Korean roller skater Jung Cheol-won an agonising heartbreak at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Jung, who was leading the 3,000-metre relay race on Monday (October 2), eased up and raised his arms in the home stretch of the race, only to be overtaken by Taiwan's Huang Yu-Lin and his outstretched leg on the line. (Medal Tally | Schedule | Streaming | Full Coverage | Sports News)
The 27-year-old South Korean was going to finish the race in the first place but his fleeting error in judgment not only caused his team to lose out on the gold medal, but also meant that they would now have to mandatorily enroll in the country's military service.
“I made a rather big mistake,” Jung said, according to Reuters. “I didn’t come at full speed to the finish line. I let my guard down too early. I am very sorry.”
Taiwan's Huang Yu-Lin finished first after pipping Jung by a fraction of a second. While South Korea crossed the line in second place with a timing of 4:05.702, Taiwan secured the gold medal with a time of 4:05.692 - which meant the difference was an infinitesimal 0.01 seconds. India's quartet of Aryanpal Singh Ghuman, Anandkumar Velkumar, Siddhant Rahul Kamble and Vikram Rajendra Ingale won the bronze medal with a time of 4:10.128.
“I thought it was such a shame that I was just a little bit short, and then the results came up on the screen showing that we had won by one hundredth of a second, and it was just a miracle,” Huang said after the race, as per Reuters.
The result means that Jung and his teammates may have missed out on an exemption from having to take part in the country's military service. According to the South Korean law, every able-bodied individual is mandated to serve in the army for 18 months by the age of 28.
The mandatory military servicer, however, can be waived for athletes and K-pop stars who excel. Those who win an Olympic medal or a gold medal in the Asian Games are granted the exemption.
