World Aquatics Championships 2024: Kim Woo-min leads from start to finish in men's 400m freestyle

Kim Woo-min of Republic of Korea delivered the first swimming upset of the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships, winning the men’s 400m freestyle on Sunday (11 February).

The Asian Games champion pipped Australia's 2022 world champion Elijah Winnington for gold on the first day of action in the pool. After a flying start, Kim led from start to finish and was well inside world-record pace for much of the race.

Winnington, Germany's Lukas Märtens and Guilherme Costa of Brazil were following in the Korean's wake with Kim showing no sign of slowing down. The chasing pack started to close on the final length, but Kim’s cushion was enough to see him touch first for the victory.

Kim touched the wall in a winning time of 3:42.71, over a second inside his previous personal best, 0.15 ahead of Winnington with Germany’s Märtens a tenth further back in third.

He celebrated his title with defending champion Samuel Short of Australia opting to skip the event, while Olympic gold medallist Ahmed Hafnaoui failed to make it out of the morning heats.

The 22-year-old admitted to reporters he was stunned at taking so much off his personal best, saying, "I've only been aiming at Paris 2024, so I didn’t expect that I would perform well here. It will have a positive influence on the Olympics too.

"I really needed a medal at the World Championships [on the road to Paris 2024], and I’m very happy to start Doha 2024 with gold as my first medal. I have been training hard for Paris 2024, so I will keep it up.

"It was an honour to compete with world-class swimmers, but I couldn’t believe that I beat them. I think it was a reward for hard work, so I won’t be satisfied here, but will keep working hard for the 2024 Olympics.”

Runner-up Winnington said, "I probably didn't expect Woo-min to be out that quick, but when I came out here the last thing my coach Dean (Boxall) told me was just to have a race.

"I'm not in the best physical condition but, saying that, I'm fit, I'm healthy, and six months' time (Paris 2024), that's what we're really preparing for."

• How to qualify for swimming at Paris 2024

Men's 400m freestyle final results at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, 11 February 2024

1. Kim Woo-min (KOR) – 3:42.71
2. Elijah Winnington (AUS) – 3:42:86
3. Lukas Märtens (GER) – 3:42.96
4. Guilherme Costa (BRA) – 3:44.22
5. Lucas Henveaux (BEL) – 3:44.61
6. Victor Johansson (SWE) – 3:45.87
7. Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 3:46.65
8. Felix Auboeck (AUT) – 3:51.60