Korean Olympic Hero Delights Asian Games Swimming Crowd

(ATR) Ticket sales are not slow for the Incheon 2014 aquatics events.

The full capacity crowd at the Munhak Aquatics Center came to cheer on a national swimming hero.

Olympic gold medalist Park Tae-hwan placed third in the men’s 400m freestyle much to the delight of the Incheon crowd.

He held second place through the 300m mark but faded down the stretch, allowing China’s Sun Yang and Japan’s Hagino Kosuke to place first and second respectively.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Hwan became the first South Korean to win a gold medal in swimming after winning the 400m freestyle.

The crowd serenaded the gold medalist with homemade signs that said "Go Park Go" and "My Asian Hero."

When addressing the media, Hwan, through a translator, said, "It was a shame I did not achieve great result in Asian Games."

"I believe this was a great opportunity and a great experience so that I can be better in the future and now my focus is on the next swims."

Park spoke only in Korean and did not take any questions from the English-speaking press. After his race, according to Korean journalists, there were not questions about Park’s status for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Chinese Dominance on Display

Sun Yang's gold was one of six the Chinese won Wedneaday.

They took all but one of the medal events, with Baladin Dimitry of Kazakhstan winning gold in the men's 200m butterfly.

The haul furthered China's lead on the swimming medal tables in Incheon.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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