S. Korean 400-meter relay team sets new national record

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's 400-meter men's relay team set a new national record, breaking the previous record that had stood for 23 years, a local sports leader at the first athletics meet in the 2011 Asian Grand Prix in China said Sunday.
Oh Se-jin, the coach who led the runners at Jiaxing, said the relay team completed the 400-meter race in 39.19 seconds in the preliminary run and then ran 39.04 seconds in the finals.
The performances broke the previous record of 39.43 seconds established over two decades ago.
The coach stressed that the record is noteworthy because the South Korean runners defeated regional favorites in the event from China, Taiwan and Thailand.
He added that strenuous training to get the runners into shape and the honing of their skills in passing the baton helped their overall performance.
Oh said the goal of his team is to reduce the record to around 38.60 seconds so the runners can compete in future world-class international athletics championships.