Athletics at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, with 48 gold medals up for grabs, begins on the 29th. Although athletics has the most gold medals after swimming (57), Korea Athletics has set a goal of ‘one gold medal’ for the Games. If Woo Sang-hyuk (Yongin City Hall), the 2023 World Athletics Federation Diamond League men’s high jump final champion, misses out on gold, Korea Athletics will be forced to settle for no medals. The expectations for Woo are high. Woo will be looking to win his first Asian Games gold medal. Woo finished 10th in 2.20m at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games as a high school student, but he won silver in 2.28m at Jakarta-Palembang in 2018.Since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (where he finished fourth at 2.35m), Woo has become one of the world’s top jumpers, winning the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 2022 (2.34m), finishing second at the World Outdoor Championships in Eugene (2.35m) and winning the Diamond League Final this year (2.35m).However, there are no guarantees that she will win the Asian Games .Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar), a three-time world champion, and Woo Sang-hyuk are expected to compete at a “world championship level” at the Asian Games .Foreign media, including Reuters, have highlighted their clash as one to watch. Barsim won back-to-back Asian Games titles in Guangzhou in 2010 (2.27m) and Incheon in 2014 (2.35m).After injuring his ankle in the 2017 season and missing Jakarta-Palembang in 2018, Barsim opted not to compete at this year’s Diamond League Finals and focused on his preparations for Hangzhou. The men’s high jump competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games will be held on October 2 with the preliminaries and finals on October 4.If Woo Sang-hyuk wins his rivalry with Barshim, Korean athletics will win its first Asian Games gold medal in the men’s high jump in 21 years since Lee Jin-taek (Bangkok 1998, Busan 2002).Korea will also be hoping for medals from Choi Kyung-sun (Jecheon City) and Jung Da-eun (K-water) in the women’s marathon, Jeong Jung-sun (Ansan City) in the women’s shot put, and Yoo Kyu-min (Iksan City) and Kim Jang-woo (Jangheung-gun) in the men’s triple jump. Barsim and Woo are not the only athletes competing at the Asian Games who have made their mark on the world stage .Niraj Chopra, who became the first Indian to win the men’s javelin at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last month with a throw of 88.17 meters, and Arshad Nadeem, who won Pakistan’s first ever World Athletics medal (silver) with a throw of 87.82 meters, will also be competing for gold in Hangzhou. Men’s pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena (PIL), who became the first Asian to clear the 6-meter barrier, women’s javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN), who won both the World Championships and Diamond League Final, and women’s shot putter Gong Lijiao (CHN), who won her eighth consecutive 바카라사이트 World Championships medal, are also star performers to watch.