‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyeok (27, Yongin City Hall), who is aiming to win the world championship for the first time in Korean track and field history, safely passed the first gate.

Woo Sang-hyeok surpassed 2m28 in the men’s high jump preliminary at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships held at the National Stadium in Budapest, Hungary on the 20th and came in fourth place.메이저놀이터

On this day, Woo Sang-hyeok surpassed 2m14, 2m18, and 2m22 in the first period, and succeeded in 2m25 in the second period.

She passed 2m28 in the first period and confirmed her advance to the finals.

Thirty-seven people applied for the men’s high jump preliminary round, but 36 actually competed.

The automatic entry record for the finals was 2m30, but the preliminary round ended with 13 finalists, including a tie for 12th place in the 2m28.

There were 13 players who exceeded 2m28 in the preliminaries, and there were 4 players including Woo Sang-hyeok who exceeded 2m28 in the first round.

Woo Sang-hyeok will challenge to win in the finals starting at 2:58 am on the 23rd, Korea time.

Woo Sang-hyeok, who easily crossed the 2m14 bar in the first round of the preliminaries at a considerable distance, drew a ‘V’ while looking at the relay camera.

After he crossed 2m22, he shouted ‘heavy rain’.

Even after failing in the first round of 2m25, Woo Sang-hyeok did not feel intimidated at all.

Woo Sang-hyeok took the ‘Popeye’ posture after succeeding in the second period of 2m25.

After passing 2m28 in the first period, Woo Sang-hyeok waved his right index finger and laughed. Confidence was evident in his actions and facial expressions.

Mutaz Esa Barsim (32, Qatar), who is aiming for a fourth consecutive World Championship title, started the match from 2m22 and finished the preliminary round with just three jumps (2m22, 2m25, 2m28 all successful in the first round).

Jubon Harrison (24, USA), who is undefeated this season, also crossed 2m18, 2m22, 2m25, and 2m28 in the first round without a single failure.

Akamatsu Ryoichi (28, Japan) also passed the preliminary round with a tie for first place with Barshim and Harrison over 2m28 without failure.

Woo Sang-hyeok also passed the 2m28 in the first round, but failed once in the 2m25 and was pushed to 4th place in the preliminary round.

Jean-Marco Tamberry (31, Italy), who tied for first place with Barsim at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, failed in the 2m28 1st and 2nd periods and was in danger of being eliminated, but crossed the bar in the 3rd period and finished in 9th place in the preliminary round got a ticket

All finals will start again under the same conditions.

Experts predict that Woo Sang-hyeok will have a three-way battle with Barshim and Harrison.

At last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Woo Sang-hyeok tied for first place in the preliminary round with a 2m28, and in the finals, surpassed 2m35 to rank second after Barshim with a 2m37.

Woo Sang-hyeok made it to the finals of the World Championships for the second time in a row by easily passing the preliminary round in Budapest this year.

For a long time, ‘passing the preliminary round’ was a high barrier for Korean men’s high jump.

At the 1993 Stuttgart Games, Lee Jin-taek, the first Korean male high jumper to compete in the World Championships, was eliminated in the preliminary round with a 2m20.

At the 1995 Gothenburg Games, Lee Jin-taek failed to advance to the finals with 2m24.

In the 1997 Athens Games, Lee Jin-taek passed the preliminaries over 2m28, and in the finals, he ranked 8th with 2m29.

Lee Jin-taek also succeeded in advancing to the finals at the 1999 Seville Games with a 2m29, and took 6th place in the final, surpassing 2m29.

Prior to Woo Sang-hyeok’s appearance, Lee Jin-taek’s 6th place in the 1999 event was the highest Korean high jump ever at the World Championships.

Woo Sang-hyeok also suffered the loss of being eliminated in the 2017 London competition with a mere 2m22. He did not even qualify for the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

However, Woo Sang-hyeok, who took off as a world-class jumper starting from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (2m35, 4th place), advanced to the finals with a tie for first place in 2m28 at the 2022 Eugene World Championships, and won a silver medal in the final with 2m35.

It was the best performance ever at the world championships in Korean athletics, surpassing Kim Hyun-seop, the bronze medalist in the men’s 20km walking race at the 2011 Daegu Games.

Even if Woo Sang-hyeok is in the top 3 in the finals on the 23rd, he will set the milestone of ‘obtaining a medal at two consecutive world championships’ for the first time in Korean track and field history.

However, Woo Sang-hyeok’s dream reaches a higher place.

Before departing for Budapest, Woo Sang-hyeok said, “I will definitely return the gold medal I entrusted to you.”

Woo Sang-hyeok, who crossed the bar with his characteristic light movements in the preliminaries, took one step closer to his dream of winning the world championship.