Junior track cycling team wins silver

[Anchor]

The South Korean track cycling national team, known as the golden generation, won a silver medal in the team sprint at the Junior World Championships.

It was disappointing that the last runner experienced an issue with their left contact lens in the final.

Reporter Shim Byeong-il reports from Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

[Report]

This is a stage where the world’s most promising track cycling athletes compete.

Choi Tae-ho, Jeong Jae-ho, Jeon Woo-joo, and Kim Min-seong.

The four athletes from South Korea's golden generation warmed up ahead of their participation in the team sprint event.

In this event, where three athletes each run a lap of 250m, the national team showcased rapid performances from the preliminaries to the quarterfinals.

Having won a bronze medal last year, they built confidence and improved their times.

With a time of 44.499 seconds, they advanced to the finals in second place in the quarterfinals, facing off against the first-place team from the UK.

However, a problem arose in the final.

Kim Min-seong, who ran in place of Jeon Woo-joo, fell significantly behind right from the start.

The contact lens in his left eye shifted, preventing him from running properly.

Ultimately, he finished with a time slower than in the preliminaries, and the dream of a gold medal was regrettably dashed.

[Choi Tae-ho/Junior National Team Track Sprint Cyclist: "I am very disappointed that the results this year did not meet my expectations. It's very regrettable, but..."]

However, Choi Tae-ho, who studied in New Zealand, was very satisfied with his 250m lap time of 12.7 seconds as the second runner.

[Choi Tae-ho/Junior National Team Track Sprint Cyclist: "I believe I won against myself. I am proud that I achieved a time (12.7 seconds) that others have not been able to reach."]

Choi Tae-ho, the leading runner of the junior national cycling team, will compete in the cycling event tomorrow, aiming for his first gold medal in the competition.

This is Shim Byeong-il reporting for KBS News from Apeldoorn, Netherlands.