S. Korean long jumper reaches final; others knocked out

By Yoo Jee-ho
DAEGU, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- Kim Deok-hyeon on Thursday became the first South Korean to qualify for the long jump final at the World Championships in Athletics, while his compatriots in other events were knocked out early.
Kim, considered South Korea's best hope for a top-10 finish, was 11th best in the qualification at 8.02 meters. The top 12 jumpers or those who cleared at least 8.15 meters reached the next round.
Kim, mostly a triple jumper doing his first long jump this year, reached 7.86 meters in his first attempt. He went 7.99 meters in the next try before ending his qualification at 8.02 meters. He holds the Korean record of 8.20 meters.
"It was a close call, and it feels great," said Kim, who missed the final at the 2009 championships in Berlin by 2 centimeters. "I expected other jumpers to struggle a bit, and I felt 8.05 meters would be the cut-off line."
The final is scheduled for Friday evening. Kim will also compete in triple jump on Friday morning.
"Since I have to do triple jump in the morning, I may not be in top shape for long jump," Kim said. "My record in the final may not be as good as today, but I will try my best."
The men's 4x400節? relay team set the South Korean record at 3 minutes and 04.05 seconds, but the team of Park Bong-go, Lim Chan-ho, Lee Jun and Seong Hyeok-je still ranked last in their heat of eight teams and was eliminated. It was the second South Korean record at these championships, followed by Kim Kun-woo's achievement in decathlon.
Shot putter Hwang In-sung, the national record holder with 18.86 meters, couldn't get out of the qualification round. He threw 17.75 meters and 17.62 meters in his first two attempts. He needed to be inside the top 12 or throw 20.60 meters to advance.
Kim Kyung-ae came up short of reaching the final in women's javelin throw. The best she could muster in her three attempts was 54.96 meters, 27th in the field of 28. The qualifying mark was 61 meters.
In the men's 5,000 節?eters, Baek Seung-ho came in 15:01.37 to rank 34th among 36 runners.
In women's high jump, Han Da-rye exited early, too. She cleared 1.75 meters in two attempts but then couldn't clear 1.80 meters in three successive attempts. Han needed to jump 1.95 meters or rank among the top dozen to advance.
Later Thursday, Jung Sang-jin will try to make the final of men's javelin throw.