New History Written After Overcoming 'Disqualification Hell'... Men's 400m Relay Sets New Korean Record for 'Valuable Bronze Medal' [2026 Asian Games]

[Financial News] The South Korean men's 400m relay team, which was disqualified in the preliminary round but made a dramatic comeback, won a valuable bronze medal at the Asian Games by breaking the Korean national record.
The Korean men's relay team, consisting of Seo Min-jun (Seocheon County Office), Joel Jin Nwamadi (Yecheon County Office), Lee Jaesung (Gwangju City Office), and Biwesa Daniel Gasama (Ansan City Office), finished third in the men's 400m relay final at the 2026 Asian Games held at Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on the 28th, recording 38.43 seconds, behind China (38.17 seconds) and Taiwan (38.32 seconds).
This was a new record, shaving 0.06 seconds off the previous Korean record of 38.49 seconds set at the Asian Athletics Championships last May. With this, the Korean men's relay team achieved the historic feat of winning its third Asian Games bronze medal, following the 1986 Seoul Games and the Hangzhou Asian Games, and securing medals at two consecutive Games.
The journey to the medal was arduous. The team was disqualified in the preliminary round the previous day after being ruled to have stepped outside the baton exchange zone, but following a persistent appeal through video review, it dramatically overturned the decision and advanced to the final. On the final stage, reached after immense hardship, the athletes faced rain and the relative disadvantage of being assigned Lane 1; however, they displayed perfect teamwork and made no mistakes.
Korea smoothly passed the baton from first runner Seo Min-jun through third runner Lee Jaesung, and anchor Biwesa unleashed an explosive sprint. Biwesa held on to third place by fending off the fierce pursuit of Thailand's anchor Puripol Boonsone, who had swept the 100m and 200m events at these Games. Thailand (38.49 seconds) and Japan (38.57 seconds), both strong medal contenders, were pushed down to fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Meanwhile, the women's 400m relay team, consisting of Kim Ju-ha (Siheung City Hall), Seo Ji Hyun (Jincheon-gun County Office), Kim Myung-ji (Jeongseon County Office), and Kim Seo-yoon (Changwon City Hall), finished seventh among the eight teams in the final with a time of 44.81 seconds. The men's 1600m relay team, featuring Jang Min-ho (Anyang City Hall), Shin Min-Gyu (Seoul Metropolitan Government), Bae Geon-yul (Anyang City Hall), and Lee Jae-woong (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps), finished fifth in Heat 2 of the preliminaries with a time of 3:07.19, but secured the last spot in the final after being recognized as eighth overall.

[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter