South Korea's canoe team wins 2 gold, 2 silver; mixed kayak pair takes silver

South Korea's canoe pair of Choi Min-gyu, 34, and Seon Min-ju, 21, claimed a silver medal in the mixed kayak double 500m at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday.

The duo finished second in the canoe sprint mixed kayak double 500m final at the Miyoshi Lake Canoe Course in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, clocking 1 minute 40.349 seconds.

Choi added a second medal at the Games, having earlier won gold in the men's kayak four 500m.

Choi, alongside Jo Gwang-hui, Kim Hyo-bin and Jang Sang-won, helped South Korea win its first-ever Asian Games gold medal in the men's kayak four 500m — an event often called the crown jewel of canoe sprint — before adding silver in the mixed event.

In Saturday's final, Choi and Seon finished 0.905 seconds behind the gold-medal pair of Li Chenhao and Zhang Ruxi of China, who won in 1 minute 39.444 seconds. The Korean pair held off a strong challenge from Japan's Fukuda Rin and Inoue Akihiro, who finished third in 1 minute 40.720 seconds, by a margin of 0.371 seconds.

South Korea's canoe team has delivered a string of medal-winning performances throughout the Games.

Jo, Kim, Jang and Choi combined for the country's first-ever gold medal in the men's kayak four 500m on Thursday, and Jo and Kim followed up with another gold in the kayak double 500m on Friday, becoming the first South Korean athletes at these Games to win two gold medals.

Earlier Saturday, Jang added to the team's haul by winning silver in the men's kayak single 500m final.