South Korea's Lee Wins Final Race of Asian Games
December 21, 1998 - 0:0
BANGKOK, Thailand South Korea's Lee Bong-Ju pulled away from Japan's Akira Manai in the marathon Sunday, pounding a final stamp of victory on the Asian Games' real battle between their two nations for second in the gold standings. After Lee won the games' final race by nearly a minute, he ran a victory lap with a South Korean flag while Manai took one step over the finish line and Hung his head in fatigue.
Lee's triumph left South Korea ahead of Japan 65 to 52 in gold medals, although Japan came out ahead 180-165 in total medals. Nobody expected to surpass sports giant China, which finished with 129 of the 378 gold medals awarded, or 34 percent. The Chinese had taken 135 of the 342 golds, or 39 percent, at the last games in 1994. Compared to four years ago, the Chinese lost some ground to Japan in swimming and track events.
In some cases where the Chinese won, such as in diving and rowing, they said the Asian competition was too easy. The diving coach said his team still faced hard work if it wanted to make the desired impact at the 2000 Olympics. Yuan Weimin, head of China's delegation here, said that overall he was basically satisfied, but not totally satisfied'' with China's showing.
Looking ahead to 2000 at Sydney was a major theme for China, South Korea and Japan, while some of the smaller teams were celebrating their chance to shine on the Asian stage. Host Thailand finished with 24 gold medals, double its initial target and double its best previous finish 12 in 1966. That tied it with Kazakhstan for fourth in golds.
Hong Kong, which had only one gold from all previous Asian Games, came out with five. But 2000 also was a concern for marathon winner Lee, who missed a 1996 Olympic gold by just three seconds. I was disappointed with the time. The temperature was too high,'' Lee said. But I am delighted to win the gold.'' Now I have two goals: A gold medal at the Sydney Olympics and to break the world marathon record, maybe next year at London, Rotterdam or Boston,'' he added.
Chinese women weightlifters did all the world record setting here, breaking marks on all seven days of their competition at the games. But in the more prestigious track events, Japanese runners turned in the best time. Koji Ito just missed the exclusive club of men who have run 100 meters in less than 10 seconds, turning in a 10-flat semifinal in the semifinals before winning the gold in a slightly slower time.
On Sunday, Ito received the $100,000 award for the games' most valuable performance. Second in the voting by reporters covering the games was Japan's Naoko Takahashi. With nobody pushing her, she missed the world women's marathon record by just one minute as she won the games' opening race by 13 minutes. (AP)
Lee's triumph left South Korea ahead of Japan 65 to 52 in gold medals, although Japan came out ahead 180-165 in total medals. Nobody expected to surpass sports giant China, which finished with 129 of the 378 gold medals awarded, or 34 percent. The Chinese had taken 135 of the 342 golds, or 39 percent, at the last games in 1994. Compared to four years ago, the Chinese lost some ground to Japan in swimming and track events.
In some cases where the Chinese won, such as in diving and rowing, they said the Asian competition was too easy. The diving coach said his team still faced hard work if it wanted to make the desired impact at the 2000 Olympics. Yuan Weimin, head of China's delegation here, said that overall he was basically satisfied, but not totally satisfied'' with China's showing.
Looking ahead to 2000 at Sydney was a major theme for China, South Korea and Japan, while some of the smaller teams were celebrating their chance to shine on the Asian stage. Host Thailand finished with 24 gold medals, double its initial target and double its best previous finish 12 in 1966. That tied it with Kazakhstan for fourth in golds.
Hong Kong, which had only one gold from all previous Asian Games, came out with five. But 2000 also was a concern for marathon winner Lee, who missed a 1996 Olympic gold by just three seconds. I was disappointed with the time. The temperature was too high,'' Lee said. But I am delighted to win the gold.'' Now I have two goals: A gold medal at the Sydney Olympics and to break the world marathon record, maybe next year at London, Rotterdam or Boston,'' he added.
Chinese women weightlifters did all the world record setting here, breaking marks on all seven days of their competition at the games. But in the more prestigious track events, Japanese runners turned in the best time. Koji Ito just missed the exclusive club of men who have run 100 meters in less than 10 seconds, turning in a 10-flat semifinal in the semifinals before winning the gold in a slightly slower time.
On Sunday, Ito received the $100,000 award for the games' most valuable performance. Second in the voting by reporters covering the games was Japan's Naoko Takahashi. With nobody pushing her, she missed the world women's marathon record by just one minute as she won the games' opening race by 13 minutes. (AP)