Can't stop, won't stop: Jang Min-ho races from Asian Games to Asian Para Games 

ICHEON, Gyeonggi — Jang Min-ho, a 29-year-old Korean sprinter, will leave for Nagoya, Japan once again less than a month after competing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian 2026. He will race for Korea — this time at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games, slated to start on Oct. 18.

“When I come back, I’ll have won a medal,” Jang said before his departure.

He will be the first Korean athlete to compete at both the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games.

Jang grew up loving to run and eventually became a long-distance runner at Gwacheon Jungang High School. However, his small stature led him to retire from competition early.

He earned a physical education degree from a two-year college before working as a teacher for students who hoped to enter college physical education programs and coaching a sports club.

“I couldn’t keep going [competitively]. I had to earn a living,” he said. “But every time I took the kids that I coached to a race, I wished that I was the one running.”

Jang found his way back to the sport by joining an amateur club. But this time, he discovered an unexpected gift — not for long-distance running, but for sprinting.

In 2023, the then-26-year-old went to Anyang City Hall to train with the municipal team. He kept shaving time off his personal records and eventually decided to give competing another shot.

“My girlfriend […] gave me the courage to try again,” said Jang. “We weren’t together at the time, but she told me, ‘I don’t want you to look back and regret not doing it.’”

Oh Kyong-soo, who now coaches Korea’s national sprint team, gave Jang the chance that he needed. Jang trained in the mornings, then worked at a training center from the afternoon until late at night to make a living.

“I couldn’t have been happier,” he said. “I was able to keep running, which I loved, and earn money at the same time.”

But then another setback struck.

Late last year, he experienced problems with his eyesight that sent him to an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed him with retinitis pigmentosa. Doctors told him that his optic nerves were gradually losing function. He had only about 30 percent of his vision left.

“I first noticed that something wasn’t right when I was about 21,” said Jang. “Before that, my eyesight was good. [The disorder] runs in the family. My mother has it, so I knew that there was a chance that I could develop it someday.”

At first, the condition caused him little trouble. But his vision gradually deteriorated until he struggled to see in the dark or even recognize people. According to his girlfriend, a teacher instructing students with disabilities, his mother gave him the courage to keep going. 

Jang finished third in the 400 meters at the national athletics championships, which also served as a qualifier for the Asian Games, and he ultimately earned his first call-up to the Korean national team.

He also set his sights on the national para athletics team. After receiving his para classification, Jang won both the 100 and 400 meters at a para athletics grand prix in May and secured a spot at the Asian Para Games.

At the Asian Games, Jang and his teammates fell short of their bid to break the national record, but he smiled as he walked away from the race.

“I usually get really nervous at domestic games. But there were so many people in the stands [at the Asian Games], and the cheers were so loud that I actually enjoyed [the race] more,” he said.

Jang is expected to contend for two gold medals at the Asian Para Games. But his ambitions stretch far beyond the event. He wants to challenge the world record and, two years from now, win gold on the sport’s biggest stage at the Los Angeles Paralympics. The men’s T13 100-meter world record stands at 10.37 seconds — just 0.24 seconds faster than Jang’s personal best of 10.61.

In a cruel twist of fate, the sport that Jang loves is also worsening his eyesight. The physical strain and sunlight exposure that come with training are taking a toll on his vision.

“Training for the 400 meters feels like my body is burning up,” he said. “The pressure in my eyes heightens, and my vision gets blurry.”

Still, he has no intention of stopping until he reaches the top.

Jang recalled how he had received an outpouring of support after he disclosed his disability.

“Once people learned that I had developed a disability but was still competing, others with disabilities began reaching out to me,” he said. “They said that they wanted to try again too. I want to be a source of hope for them.”

BY KIM HYO-KYOUNG [[email protected]]