WITH nearly 10,000 athletes competing at the Asian Games, the list of world champions and Olympic gold medalists is lengthy. Here is a short rundown on just a few of the athletes to watch at Incheon:
With one of the hottest rivalries in swimming, South Korea’s Park Tae-hwan and China’s Sun Yang will be hogging the spotlight.
Park Tae-hwan
Park found success in the 400-meter freestyle event at the Beijing Games in 2008, becoming the first South Korean man to win an Olympic medal in swimming.
Sun Yang
Speaking through the Chinese media, he reminded Park that he’s come a long way since being outshone by his rival at the 2010 Asian Games by winning gold in the 400 and 1,500 at the London Olympics — and finishing equal with Park for silver in the 200 — then winning the 400, 800 and 1,500 at last year’s world championships. Sun also holds the 1,500 world record.
Saori Yoshida
One of Japan’s biggest sporting stars and most successful wrestlers in history, Yoshida claimed three consecutive Olympic golds and holds an unprecedented 12 consecutive world titles in her 55-kilogram freestyle class.
Abhinav Bindra
The Inidan player is aiming to add Asian Games gold to his long list of Olympic, Commonwealth and world championship titles.
Lin Dan
Lin burst onto the men’s badminton scene with the first of his five world titles in 2006, going on to win gold at the last two Olympics and the singles title at the last Asian Games in China four years ago.(SD-Agencies)
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