The South Korean men's 100-meter relay team won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in Athletics and is aiming for the 2026 Asian Games

The young Korean track and field men's 4x100m relay team set a new Korean record and competition record with a time of 38.49 seconds, and won the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships. Defending champions Thailand finished second in 38.78 seconds and Hong Kong in 39.10 seconds. The Chinese team, which crossed the finish line in third place, was disqualified.

The South Korean men's relay team, which had won only four bronze medals in the previous Asian Championships, won the championship for the first time

In the first group of the men's 4x100m relay at the 2025 World Athletics Relay Championships held in Guangzhou, China on the 11th of this month, the South Korean team set a new Korean record with 38.51 seconds, shortening the Korean record by 0.02 seconds for the first time in 20 days. In addition, the South Korean team also set a new Asian Championships record of 38.55 seconds faster than Thailand's 38.55 seconds when they won the Asian Championships in Bangkok 2023.

Prior to this tournament, the Korean men's 4x100m relay had only won four bronze medals at the Asian Championships (1981, 1983, 1985, 2023). At the Gumi Competition held at home stadium, Korean track and field won the men's 4x100m relay championship at the Asian Championships for the first time. Although Japan, the "strongest in Asia", did not participate in the men's 4x100m relay at the Asian Championships, the gold medal won by the South Korean relay team on the day was of great significance. At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, South Korea won the third place in the men's 4x100m relay and won the Asian Games medal for the first time in 37 years since the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.

The South Korean men's 4x100m relay team broke the 38.5 seconds mark at the 2025 Asian Championships

This year, the Korean men's 4x100m relay team set a new Korean record of 38.56 seconds in the World Athletics Relay Championship qualifiers on May 10, and shortened the record by 0.05 seconds with a time of 38.51 seconds in the loser's repechage on the second day (11th). This year's Asian Championships broke the 38.5 second mark, and Kenji pointed to the Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, which will be held next year.

South Korean media said that the four South Korean men's 4x100m relay team runners who won gold in Gumi were all young. The eldest brother, Lee Jun-hyuk, is 24 years old, and the youngest Namady Jorkin is 19 years old. Competitors of the same age who set similar records in the men's 100m will appear at the same time, and there is a greater sense of anticipation. Among them, Lee Jun-hyuk's personal best is 10.18 seconds, Namadi Jorkin's personal best is 10.30 seconds, Lee Jae-sung's personal best is 10.32 seconds, and Seo Min-joon's personal best is 10.35 seconds.

Lee Jun-hyuk said: "The 100m is an individual event, but the relay is a team event. Through goodwill competition, the level of individual competition was improved, and the team unity was also very good, and good results were achieved in the relay race. Every time I participate in the relay international competition, I always challenge the Korean record. "If the personal record goes up and the cooperation is better, the 2026 Asian Games will also be expected to be a good result.

Kim Do-eun (No. 1001), the main member of the South Korean women's 4x100m relay team, is taking over the baton

The South Korean team finished fourth in the women's 4x100m relay final at the Asian Championships in 44.45 seconds. The gap to third-placed Thailand (44.26 seconds) was 0.19 seconds. Although they did not finish on the podium, the Korean team was 0.15 seconds shorter than the previous Korean record of 44.60 seconds set at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon for the first time in 11 years. China won the championship in 43.28 seconds, and India finished second in 43.86 seconds.