South Korea claimed the second spot in the finals of the inaugural men’s roller skating relay at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Monday, relinquishing their shot at the gold medal due to an untimely celebration.
Jung Cheol-won, the South Korean rollerskater, made a costly error in judgment when he prematurely celebrated. Jung served as the anchor for his three-man team in the men’s 3,000m relay final at the Qintang Roller Sports Centre.
Believing he had comfortably outpaced Huang Yu-lin, Jung let his guard down and raised his arms in celebration, only for the Taiwanese skater to make a last-minute surge, crossing the finish line first in 4 minutes and 5.692 seconds, winning by a mere one-hundredth of a second.
“I made a rather big mistake. I didn’t come at full speed to the finish line. I let my guard down too early,” said a sheepish Jung.
“I am very sorry. I apologise to my teammates and to our fans who supported us.
“We all worked very hard together for this, and it’s all my fault.”
Taiwan’s Huang said it was a “miracle” that he won, with his coach drumming it into him that you never give up.
“I realised they were celebrating, but I wanted to tell them, while you were celebrating, I was still fighting,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure whether I had reached the finish line in time.
“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 I had won by one hundredth of a second, and it was just a miracle.”
Taiwan’s women rubbed salt in the wounds by winning their 3,000m relay final, also consigning South Korea to silver.
