Joel Jin Nwamadi (20, Yecheon County Office), South Korea’s top short-distance track athlete, continues his remarkable streak. Fresh off a bronze medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, he has now secured two gold medals at the domestic national championships.
Joel Jin Nwamadi won the men’s general division 200m final at the 107th National Sports Festival on the 19th at Gangchanghak Comprehensive Sports Ground in Seogwipo City, Jeju, clocking 20.47 seconds for gold. This marked his second gold at the event, following his 100m victory the previous day (10.35 seconds).
His 200m time also set a new competition record for the men’s general division 200m, breaking the previous mark of 20.51 seconds set by Ko Seung-hwan (29, Gwangju Metropolitan City Office) at the 2024 event. The current South Korean record for the men’s 200m remains 20.40 seconds, set by Park Tae-geon in June 2018.
Seo Min-jun (22, Seocheon County Office), who teamed with Joel Jin Nwamadi and Bwesa Daniel Gasama (23, Ansan City Office) to win a bronze medal in the 400m relay at the Asian Games last month, finished second in the 200m with 20.73 seconds. Lee Jae-sung (25, Gwangju Metropolitan City Office) took third place with 21.08 seconds.
Gasama withdrew from the 200m preliminaries due to poor physical condition, following his absence from the 100m the previous day. Joel Jin Nwamadi will aim for a third gold in the 400m relay on the 20th.
In the women’s general division 200m, Kim Seo-yoon (23, Changwon City Office) claimed gold with a time of 23.99 seconds. Kim, who finished fourth at the Asian Games in the women’s 400m with a Korean record of 53.38 seconds, also set a new competition record in the 400m (54.10 seconds) at this event, securing her second gold.
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