Woo Ha-ram, Kim Young-nam secure Olympics berth in synchro diving

Korean divers have secured a berth for the Olympics in the synchro competition for the first time Korea’s diving history.

Woo Ha-ram (23) and Kim Young-nam (25) received 383.43 points overall to rank fifth in the final round of men’s 10-meter synchro diving competition in the 2020 FINA Diving World Cup, which doubled as the final qualifying round for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The event took place at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Japan on Sunday. The Woo Ha-ram and Kim Young-nam pair was granted a berth as it was ranked within the top four except the U.K. group, which already secured a berth for the Tokyo Olympics in the previous group race.

Woo Ha-ram was ranked fourth in men’s 3-meter springboard diving at the Gwangju World Swimming Championship in 2019, and was ranked sixth in the 10-meter platform competition for the Tokyo Olympics, before securing the berth in synchro.

“I feel regret about my performance, but I am happy to secure a berth from day 1 of the championship event. I will do my best in the remaining 3-meter synchro competition to make better achievements,” Woo Ha-ram said.

“I have seen great potential through this championship,” said Kim Young-nam, who is set to participate in Olympic Games for the first time. “I am so happy to become an Olympian. I will improve my performance further, and redouble efforts to display best performance in the Olympics.”


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com