Park Tae Hwan has taken home four gold medals so far at the 95th Korean National Sports Festival. He will be vying for his fifth in the 4 x 100 medley relay. Park, who is looking to defend his Festival MVP title, has already won gold in the 200 freestyle and as part of the Incheon Metropolitan Government Team in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 freestyle relay.
Park also collected a gold in the 400 freestyle posting a time of 3:47.40, which is almost a full second faster than the time he put up at the Asian Games in just over a month ago. At the games Park finished in the third place position behind Sun Yang and Kosuke Hagino, posting a time of 3:48.33.
“It’s no where near my personal record in the event, but I’m pleased to have bettered my Asiad performance,” Park told The Korea Times.
The 400 medley relay will be a challenge for Park as his team was only able to win the bronze at the festival last year.
The National Sports Festival is an annual week long competition that includes 39 sports.
Park’s main competition for the MVP award will be archer Kim Woo-jin. Kim, who won the World Championships in 2011, has set two world records and collected three golds at the festival.