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High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok wins silver at world championships

Published: 17 Sep. 2025, 14:29

Woo Sang-hyeok of Korea celebrates after the men's high jump final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept. 16. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok captured his second career silver medal at the world outdoor championships in Tokyo on Tuesday, just missing out on a piece of Korean athletics history.

Woo jumped 2.34 meters [7.68 feet] to finish in second place behind Hamish Kerr of New Zealand, who cleared 2.36 meters for his first career gold at the World Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in the Japanese capital.

Jan Stefela of the Czech Republic got the bronze medal at 2.31 meters. Oleh Doroshchuk of Ukraine also finished at 2.31 meters but ended in fourth place after needing more attempts than Stefela.

Woo, the 2022 silver medalist, was trying to become the first Korean athlete to win an outdoor world title.

Woo, who had won the world indoor crown in March this year, also came up short of joining Javier Sotomayor in 1993 as the only male high jumpers to capture both the indoor and outdoor world titles in the same year.

Woo had been undefeated in seven international events this season before Kerr, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist, outlasted him Tuesday.

After some pretenders got weeded out, only Woo, Kerr, Stefela and Doroshchuk managed to jump over 2.31.

With the bar set at 2.34 meters, all four jumpers missed on their first two attempts before Woo became the first of the quartet to clear it.

Woo Sang-hyeok of Korea reacts during the men's high jump final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept. 16. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Kerr promptly matched Woo, before Doroshchuk and then Stefela failed in their third attempts to be eliminated.

Woo and Kerr were the last two men left, dueling for the gold medal. And after Woo failed in his first crack at 2.36 meters, which would have equaled his personal best and the national record, Kerr cleared the bar to put himself ahead.

Woo now went for 2.38 meters, but missed on his next two jumps to settle for the silver medal.

He is now the first Korean athlete with multiple medals at the world outdoor championships.

Yonhap