19-year-old Kim Jun-woo fills void left by Kim Woo-min, wins silver in men's 800m freestyle

Kim Jun-woo, a 19-year-old South Korean middle- and long-distance swimming prospect, won a silver medal in the men's 800m freestyle at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Born in 2007, Kim touched the wall in 7 minutes 43.86 seconds in the final held Thursday at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, finishing tied for second alongside Japan's Tabuchi Kaito.

The silver carried extra weight for Kim. Defending champion Kim Woo-min, the face of South Korean middle- and long-distance swimming, withdrew from the event due to a shoulder injury, leaving Kim Jun-woo as the sole South Korean in the race.

Kim Woo-min had won gold at the 2022 Hangzhou Games with a then-national record of 7:46.03. He had been targeting a second consecutive title but ultimately withdrew from the 800m after suffering a partial tear of the left shoulder's rotator cuff and superior labrum.

Stepping up to fill that void, Kim Jun-woo raced from lane two and stayed near the front throughout. He had earlier finished fifth in the 1500m freestyle with a personal best of 14 minutes 57.13 seconds, and he capped his Asian Games debut with an individual medal in the 800m — the event he had focused his preparations on.

China's Zhang Zhanshuo took gold, touching the wall first in a Games-record 7:42.49 — just 1.37 seconds ahead of Kim.

Zhang's time shaved 3.54 seconds off the previous Games record of 7:46.03, set by Kim Woo-min in Hangzhou.

Zhang had already claimed gold in the 200m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 400m medley relay and 800m freestyle relay at these Games, and his victory Thursday gave him five gold medals at the meet.