DAEGU (Yonhap News) -- South Korean decathlete Kim Kun-woo broke his own national record at the World Championships in Athletics Sunday, powered by his season-high marks in six of the 10 decathlon disciplines.
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(Yonhap News) |
At Daegu Stadium, Kim, 31, tallied 7,860 points to rank 17th over two days of decathlon, in which athletes accumulate points based on their performances in 10 disciplines. The events are:
100ｍ, 110ｍ hurdles, 400ｍ, 1,500ｍ, high jump, long jump, pole vault, shot put, discus throw and javelin throw.
The previous national record was 7,824 points, which Kim set in 2006.
In the 1,500ｍ, the final event of decathlon, Kim treated Daegu fans to a thrilling finish. He and Larbi Bouraada of Algeria battled until the final stretch, and Kim ultimately squandered his earlier lead over the last 20m and settled for second.
In decathlon, the world record is 9,026 points by Roman Sebrle of Czech Republic, and athletes scoring in the mid- to high-8,000s often win titles. On Sunday, Trey Hardee of the U.S. took the gold with 8,607 points, and a total of 14 decathletes earned more than 8,000 points.
Kim, who has won one silver and one bronze at two Asian Games over his career, had set out to break the 8,000-point mark for the first time. On the first day, he established his best records of this year in four of the five events, including 100ｍ and high jump.
Over the first two days of the championships, Kim, who was born in the nearby town of Pohang, has been a crowd favorite, gesturing to the stands to make noise and clap as he was preparing to take off for jumping events, and smiling and fist-pumping for fans when he appeared on the stadium's main scoreboard.
