'The First Gold Goes to Seong Seungmin'—South Korean Women's Modern Pentathlon Makes History [Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News] Seong Seungmin of Korea National Sport University, who made history in Asian women's modern pentathlon at the Paris Olympics, has now delivered the South Korean delegation's first gold medal at the Asian Games. It is the first Asian Games individual gold medal in the history of South Korean women's modern pentathlon.
Seong Seungmin won the women's modern pentathlon final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Anjo Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 20th, recording 1,492 points across fencing, swimming, the obstacle discipline and the laser run, which combines running and shooting.
It was the first gold medal for the South Korean delegation at the Games, which opened on the 19th. After winning a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris to become the first Asian woman to win an Olympic modern pentathlon medal, Seong Seungmin has now become the first South Korean woman to win the individual title at the Asian Games.
She also became the inaugural women's individual champion at the first Asian Games held after equestrian competition in modern pentathlon was replaced by the obstacle discipline.
Seong Seungmin never relinquished the lead from the opening event. In fencing, which used a first-to-five épée tournament format, she began by defeating Yuliana Petrova of Kazakhstan, 5-4, and continued her charge through to the final.
In the semifinals, she defeated China's Zhang Mingyu, who had been seeking her third consecutive Asian Games individual title. She then beat fellow national-team member Kim Eun-ju in the final, finishing first overall in fencing and earning 250 points.
She was even stronger in the obstacle discipline. Adding 358 points with a personal-best time of 29.26 seconds, she maintained the lead with 608 points overall. She also secured 295 points in swimming with a time of 1:01.14, remaining in first place after the combined total of the three events.
In the final laser run, she started 18 seconds ahead of the second-place competitor. Seong Seungmin held off the challengers and crossed the finish line first, securing the first Asian Games individual gold medal in South Korean women's modern pentathlon.
China's Zhang Mingyu won the silver medal with 1,460 points, while Wu Shiyao took bronze with 1,447 points. After winning the individual gold, Seong Seungmin added a silver medal in the team event. In the women's team competition, which combines the scores of each country's top three individual finishers, Seong Seungmin placed second behind China alongside Kim Eun-ju, who scored 1,399 points to rank seventh, and Su-Min Shin of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), who scored 1,380 points to rank 12th.
China claimed its second consecutive team title, led by strong performances from Zhang Mingyu and Wu Shiyao. At the Paris Olympics, Seong Seungmin won the first Olympic medal by an Asian woman; in Aichi-Nagoya, she claimed the first Asian Games individual gold medal by a South Korean woman. Across two major international multi-sport events, Seong Seungmin has rewritten the history of South Korean women's modern pentathlon.


[email protected] Kim Hyun-jung Reporter