This year, the South Korean team put forth its best performance yet at the Asian Games held away from home. What makes this year’s Asian Games especially memorable is the gold medal in the men’s marathon. The even was won by Ji Young-joon, and his stellar performance redeemed Korea’s status as a marathon superpower.

Korea first won the gold medal in the marathon in August 1936, at the Olympic Games in Berlin. Marathoner Sohn Ki-jung from North Pyeongan Province of today’s North Korea beat 51 rivals from 28 countries. He surpassed the British marathoner Earnest Harper on the 10th kilometer and five kilometers later was among the top-5. On the 28th kilometer, Sohn sped up and from the 30th kilometer maintained the first place up to the finish line. He set a world record of two hours 29 minutes and 19 seconds.

Sohn Ki-jung was born in August 1912 in Sinuiju, which is currently in North Korea. From early childhood, he had a special talent for running. When he was in sixth grade, he defeated adults to win a five kilometer running competition. At age 16, he found a job at a company in China and commuted there by running an eight-kilometer distance every day. In 1932, he won an international marathon. When Sohn turned 20, he enrolled in Yangjeong High School, which was famous for training outstanding athletes. The following year he won an international marathon yet again, becoming the top marathoner of Joseon.

Sohn competed in 13 marathons between 1933 and 1936, winning ten of them. In 1936, he set a world record at the Olympic Games in Berlin, becoming the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic marathon. But when he was crowned with a laurel wreath, Sohn bowed his head because his home country was under Japanese colonial rule at the time and he was representing not Korea but Japan. He tried to cover the Japanese national flag on his uniform with his laurel wreath. In his interviews with foreign journalists he said that he was from Korea. As punishment, the Japanese government banned him from participating in marathons but his patriotism and resistance to Japan deeply impressed the world.

Sohn’s compatriots rejoiced in his victory more than anyone else. As soon as the news about his world record spread, Koreans all over the nation took to the streets shouting, “Joseon has won!” Sohn’s victory was a consolation to the Korean nation, which had lost its sovereignty to Japan. The Joseon Joongang Daily reported the news about Sohn’s victory and deliberately published a photo showing him in a uniform with an erased Japanese flag. The Japanese authorities later banned the daily from publishing for an indefinite period and arrested five of its reporters. But to Koreans the name “Sohn Ki-jung” represented great hope.

After graduating from high school, Sohn studied at Boseong College, which is currently known as Korea University, and at Meiji University of Japan. Upon graduation, he trained other young athletes. Two of them, Seo Yun-bok and Ham Ki-young, won the Boston Marathon. In the 1960s Sohn served as chairman of the Korea Association of Athletics Federations and a member of the Korea Olympic Committee, where he contributed to promoting athletics in the nation. But Sohn had a dream. He wanted to see one of his juniors representing Korea win the Olympic gold medal. His dream came true in 1992, when Hwang Young-jo won the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Ten years later, in 2002, Sohn died at age 90. Until the very moment of his death, Sohn was worried about the future of the Korean marathon. His achievements played a decisive role in making Korea a marathon superpower and boosting his compatriots’ national pride.