Biwesa Daniel Gasama advanced through the Asian Games men’s 100m heats held in Nagoya, Japan.
Namadi Joeljin, another Korean sprinter, also recorded the same 10 seconds 23.
Although the two athletes posted the same time, their heat groups and rankings were different.
3-Line Summary
1. Biwesa advanced through the 100m heats with 10 seconds 23
2. Joeljin also advanced to the semifinals with the same time
3. The next race is more important than the heat ranking
Biwesa Finished 2nd in Heat 3, while Joeljin Finished 1st in Heat 2
Biwesa Daniel Gasama (Ansan City Hall) ran 10 seconds 23 in Heat 3 of the men’s 100m heats at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on the 24th, during the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Oman’s Al Balushi Ali finished ahead with 10 seconds 06, while Biwesa crossed the finish line in 2nd place in the heat.
Namadi Joeljin (Yecheon County Office) recorded the same 10 seconds 23 in Heat 2 and finished 1st in the heat. Japan’s Yuki Koike and Taiwan’s Chen Yuan-fu each recorded 10 seconds 33. The fact that the two Korean athletes posted the same time was the most notable scene in the heats that day, but having the same time does not mean that the race performance and qualification method were also the same.
The men’s 100m heats advance 24 athletes to the semifinals: the 1st through 3rd-place finishers in each heat, plus the 6 fastest athletes among those who fall outside those positions. Biwesa and Joeljin met this standard and advanced to the next round.
10 Seconds 23 Is Not the Athletes’ Best Time This Year
Both athletes recorded 10 seconds 13 this year, tying for 2nd place on Korea’s all-time athlete-record list. This heat time of 10 seconds 23 was 0.10 seconds slower than that mark, but the heats are not a stage for competing for the final time; they are races in which securing advancement to the next round comes first.
The Korean men’s 100m record is 10 seconds 07, set by coach Kim Kuk-young in 2017, on 06. The fact that Biwesa and Joeljin raised their times to 10 seconds 13 this year means that their rivalry does not remain merely a matter of one athlete’s individual record. Having advanced to the semifinals with exactly the same time on the same day, what will matter in the next race is who can approach his personal record with greater composure in the start and acceleration sections.
However, medals or a Korean record cannot be definitively predicted based only on the heat times. Thailand’s Puripol Boonson advanced to the semifinals after recording a season-best 9 seconds 95 in Heat 1. For Biwesa and Joeljin, 10 seconds 23 is the mark that announced their advancement to the semifinals, and the conclusion of the competition has not yet been reached.
The Significance of the Semifinals Reached by Both Athletes
Biwesa and Joeljin are called the “two-pronged spearhead” of Korean track and field sprinting. In these heats, the arrangement was not one athlete leading while the other followed; instead, both athletes advanced to the next round with exactly the same time.
In the 100m, a difference of 0.01 seconds can change the rankings. Thus, the same number, 10 seconds 23, may be a sign that the two athletes’ abilities are closely matched, but it does not predetermine the order in the semifinals or subsequent races. At this Asian Games, the number to watch is not the tie itself in the heats, but how close the two athletes can get in the next round to the Korean record of 10 seconds 07.
References
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