Hwang Young-cho
Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:No footnotes Template:Infobox sportsperson Template:Infobox Korean name/auto Hwang Young-cho (Template:Korean; born 22 March 1970) is a former South Korean athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1994 Asian Games.
Career
Born in Samcheok, South Korea, Hwang was a promising track athlete in his junior years, but after his first marathon in 1991, which he won, he decided to specialize in marathon.
The Barcelona Olympic marathon was only the fourth of his career. In three previous marathons he had won two and placed second in the other.
Historical records show a challenging climate for the Barcelona race, with ambient temperatures at 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 deg. Fahrenheit) and a clear sky without cloud cover at the event’s start time of 18:30 increasing the risk of heat stress for the participants.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The course also had a brutal finish, with a rise of 150 meters, the equivalent of 50 Stories in a highrise building, to Montjuic after 42 km (26.2 miles) of running.
Despite these grueling conditions, Hwang led the pack of 110 athletes from the start, and was at the head of thirty runners at the halfway mark. In the second half of the race, these difficult conditions saw many athletes fall off pace, until at 35 km, only Hwang and Kōichi Morishita from Japan remained. After a memorable struggle, Hwang broke away at the 40 km mark to win the gold medal. His winning time of 2:13:23 reflected the oppressive conditions that he and the other participants had to overcome.
Hwang raced sparingly after Barcelona, and he retired after injury prevented him from representing South Korea in the 1996 Olympics.
Hwang was honoured for his performance and resilience in Barcelona by being depicted on the 2006 Berlin Marathon medal to commemorate his victory in the 1992 Olympic marathon event.
South Koreans' Olympic marathon medals
Hwang is one of two Koreans to have won the Olympic marathon. The other winner was Sohn Kee-chung. Hwang's contemporary, Lee Bong-Ju won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, and Nam Sung-yong won the bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin at the same race that Sohn Kee-chung won.
Achievements
- 1991
- Summer Universiade, winner of the men's marathon in Sheffield.
- 1992
- Summer Olympics, winner of the men's marathon in Barcelona.
- 1994
- Asian Games, winner of the men's marathon in Hiroshima.
- Boston Marathon, fourth place in a new Korean record (2:08:09)
See also
References
External links
Template:Navbox Template:Asian Games Champions Athletics Marathon Men Template:Footer Asian Champions men's 10,000 metres Template:Authority control
- 1970 births
- Living people
- South Korean men marathon runners
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for South Korea
- Olympic gold medalists for South Korea
- Korea University alumni
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea
- South Korean men long-distance runners
- Olympic gold medalists in athletics
- Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games
- Pyeonghae Hwang clan
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Asian Games
- Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
- FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea
- People from Samcheok
- Sportspeople from Gangwon Province, South Korea
- Asian Athletics Championships winners
- 20th-century South Korean sportsmen
- Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)