‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyeok (27, Yongin City Hall) expressed his aspirations to challenge 2m37, exceeding his own best and Korean record of 2m36.
Woo Sang-hyuk attended a press conference held on the 20th, the day before the 2023 Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan on the 21st.
Woo Sang-hyeok, who received applause from Japanese reporters when he greeted in Japanese, “Nice to meet you. I’m Korean high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok,” said, “Last week (9th), I jumped 2m32 in the Hangzhou Asian Games representative selection event and arrived in Japan to train. My best record. This is 2m36, and I will try to run 2m37 tomorrow (21st).”
On this day, Woo Sang-hyeok was invited to a press conference along with Kelly-Lee Barber (Australia), gold medalist in the women’s javelin throw at the 2022 Eugene World Championships, Wang Jianan (China), the first in the men’s long jump, and Fred Curley (USA), the men’s 100m world championship champion.
The Seiko Golden Grand Prix is a prestigious event classified as a ‘Continental Tour Gold Class’ by the World Association of Athletics Federations.
The Japan Association of Athletics Federations, which co-hosts the event with the World Association of Athletics Federations, actively utilized Woo Sang-hyeok to promote the event.
On the 18th, through social network service (SNS), “Woo Sang-hyeok is a world-class high jumper leading Asia. 2014 Eugene World Junior Championships bronze medal, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and 2017 London World Championships finals, 2021 He also introduced Woo Sang-hyeok’s nickname, saying, “It is called ‘Smile Jumper’ because of his constant smile.”
At the press conference, Woo Sang-hyeok received quite a few questions.
When asked what he thought of Japanese high jumpers, Woo Sang-hyeok said, “I have competed frequently with Japanese athletes since before. I met them at the world championships, and in this year’s Doha Diamond League, I competed with Shinno Tomohiro.” “When I meet Japanese athletes, I shout “fighting together.”
When another Japanese reporter asked about training methods, etc., he explained, “I participate in a lot of foreign games such as the Diamond League, so I often train abroad. I always accompany a Korean coach (Kim Do-gyun).”
Woo Sang-hyeok is a world-class jumper that Japan’s track and field are envious of.
Woo Sang-hyeok is also the first candidate to win the Golden Grand Prix Men’s High Jump, which starts at 2:40 pm on the 21st.
In this tournament, 4 foreign players, including Woo Sang-hyeok, and 5 Japanese players, including Akamatsu Ryoichi, were on the roster.
Woo Sang-hyeok holds the highest personal best record (indoor 2m36, outdoor 2m35) among the participating players.
Hamish Kerr (personal best of 2m34, New Zealand), whom Woo Sang-hyeok met frequently in international competitions, and Joel Baden (2m33, Australia), who surpassed his personal best of 2m33 this season and became the world’s No.
He also participates in Marco Pacinotti (2m33, Italy).토스카지노
Akamatsu, who won the Asian Indoor Track and Field Championships last February by pushing 2m24 Woo Sang-hyeok to second place over 2m28, will also compete in this competition.
Woo Sang-hyeok, who suffered from sinusitis at the time and entered the tournament without training enough, sees this Golden Grand Prix as an opportunity to take revenge.
Woo Sang-hyeok is raising his personal records this season every time he competes in 2m24 (Asian Indoor Track and Field Championships), 2m27 (Doha Diamond League), and 2m32 (KBS Cup).
Other Japanese high jumpers such as Shinno (2m31), Seko Yuto (2m27), Hasegawa Naoto (2m26) and Katsuda Sho (2m24) will also compete in the Golden Grand Prix.
Woo Sang-hyeok challenges not only to ‘win’, but also to break his own Korean record.