"Why Was Fourth-Place Thailand Listed?"...Men's Relay Team Nearly Lost Bronze Despite Setting National Record

Repeated Mistakes at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games
Organizing Committee Announces Fourth-Place Thailand Instead of Third-Place Korea
A Series of Controversial Judgments, Including Reversal of Preliminary Disqualification

The bronze medal won by the men's 400m relay team, which set a new South Korean national record and finished third, was initially awarded to fourth-place Thailand in an announcement by the event's organizing committee before being corrected later.

The South Korean national team celebrates winning the bronze medal in the men's 400m relay final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held on the 28th at Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Photo by Yonhap News

Organizing Committee Corrects Medalist Material After Initially Listing Thailand as Bronze Medalist

According to Yonhap News on the 29th, the South Korean relay team, consisting of Seo Minjun (Seocheon County Government), Namadi Joeljin (Yecheon County Government), Lee Jaesung (Jeonnam Gwangju City Government), and Biwesa Daniel Gasama (Ansan City Government), recorded 38.43 seconds in the men's 400m relay final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, the previous day. They finished third after China (38.17 seconds) and Taiwan (38.32 seconds), setting a new national record for South Korea.

However, in the medalist material distributed by the organizing committee at 11:51 p.m. that day, Thailand, which finished fourth with 38.49 seconds, was named as the bronze medalist. Ha Kyungsoo, head coach of the men's sprint team, told Yonhap News, "I heard that the Japanese team filed an objection," and added, "The organizing committee did not provide a clear explanation, and the website showed a result that was difficult to understand."

After a strong protest from the South Korean team, Korea was marked as third on the official website at 11:54 p.m., just three minutes later. Around midnight, the organizing committee announced Korea as the bronze medalist again. The committee has not stated the reasons behind the change in results.

South Korean track and field has experienced three adjudication issues at this event alone. The men's 400m relay team was initially disqualified in the heats on the 27th due to a ruling that the first and second runners had exchanged the baton outside the transfer zone but advanced to the final after an appeal. Coach Ha explained, "The judges ruled that the baton was handed over outside the relay zone, but from our perspective, it was not. Since overturning appeal decisions is rare at major international events, we did not expect to be granted relief, so it was a great relief to get a good result."

The mixed 400m relay team was disqualified in the heats on the 28th, even though a neighboring lane's athlete fell, preventing a baton exchange. After two appeals, the team was allowed a separate re-race, but only managed a time of 42.20 seconds, 0.02 seconds short of the 42.18-second final qualification standard.

Criticism of Poor Event Management: 'Apologies for Accommodation and Transportation Mishaps'

This event has seen a series of management mishaps. On the 23rd, the official website incorrectly listed Kim Youngbeom, who did not participate in the 800m freestyle relay, as a bronze medalist. On the eve of the opening, on the 18th in Gifu Prefecture's Kakamigahara, North Korea's anthem, rather than South Korea's, was played for nearly a minute during the men's hockey match between Korea and Bangladesh. Event officials visited the South Korean delegation office that night to apologize.

Transportation for athletes has also faced disruptions. On the 15th, the organizing committee bus carrying the South Korean football team mistakenly went to a baseball stadium. On the morning of the basketball final against Japan on the 20th, the men's basketball team could not train because the vehicle to the training facility did not arrive. On the 28th, the men's volleyball team missed their morning practice before the game against Taiwan due to a shuttle bus being misassigned. A Korea Volleyball Association official said, "Transportation problems occur frequently, and even though we checked and rechecked with the organizing committee three or four times the day before, these incidents still happened."

Murate Satoshi, secretary-general of the organizing committee, stated at a press conference on the 26th, "There were various mistakes in accommodation and transportation for a number of reasons. Regardless of the cause, the responsibility for providing services rests with the organizing committee. I sincerely apologize for the mistakes that have occurred." The committee explained that with the number of participants increasing from the expected 15,000 to 17,000, the accommodation and transport systems were strained.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.