South Korean sailing’s ‘living legend’ Hajimin Hae-min (Haeundae-gu Office) is heading to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to sail across the Mediterranean Sea in search of a medal.
Hajimin’s Olympic sailing competition in the men’s Laser class will begin on Aug. 1 (KST). Hajimin will compete in the first race at 7:15 p.m., followed by the second race.
He will then compete for a medal against the world’s top sailors in 11 races through August 6th.
Sailors will be penalized for each race based on their finish. First place gets one point, second place gets two points, and so on. The penalty for the final race, called the Medal Race, is double.
After sailing 10 races through August 5, Hajimin will sail in the fateful medal race at 10:43 p.m. on August 6.
Hajimin is the most accomplished sailor in South Korean sailing history. No sailor, past or present, has achieved as much as Hajimin.
He won gold in Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, and Jakarta-Palembang 2018, making it three consecutive Asian Games podiums.
Hajimin, who sails a single-handed dinghy (a boat without an engine or cabin that sails on the power of the wind), showed no signs of rust at last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, where she won a silver medal.
Looking beyond Asia, Hajimin has been competing on the Olympic stage since 2008.
Born in 1989, he is a “veteran Olympian,” having competed in four consecutive Olympic Games, from Beijing 2008 to Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
At his first Games, in Beijing, he finished 28th. He finished 24th in London 2012 and 13th in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Hajimin is hoping to medal in Paris with a “16-year upward trend” in mind.
Hajimin is a prolific Asian sailor, but he will have his work cut out for him in the ‘home of sailing’.
The only other Asian sailor in the top 10 of the Olympic rankings in the men’s Laser class is Singapore’s Ryan Loh (10th), who battled Hajimin to the finish at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Hajimin is ranked 78th.
The sailing events at the Paris Olympic Games will also be held in Marseille, the iconic port city in the south of France. These are familiar waters for European athletes.
Europe’s sailing powerhouses have been training in Marseille for years with the goal of making it to the Olympics. Hajimin experienced the waters of Marseille for the first time during a training camp last month.
She admits to being “outclassed”. But that didn’t dampen her spirits.
“Sailing is a Western-centric sport after all,” he said shortly after qualifying for the Olympic Games in April. Only if I can compete with them can I go to the so-called ‘world class’,” he said.
He will become the fifth sailor in a row to qualify for the Paris Games. He will join the likes of Lee Eun-chul, Jin Jong-oh (shooting), Yoon Kyung-shin (men’s handball) and Oh Sung-ok (women’s handball – five consecutive appearances) as legends of their respective sports. 카지노사이트
