Korean keirin’s two biggest stars clashed twice this weekend, with Jeong Jong-jin retaining the upper hand against his rival Im Chae-bin.
The two were placed together at Saturday’s semi-final stage, as Gwangmyeong Speedom marked the 38th anniversary of Seoul’s hosting of the summer Olympics.
Im Chae-bin 5 made a relatively early move to the front, with Jeong Jong-jin 2 inevitably sat in his slipstream. The pair were safely at the head of the race with half a lap left – and Jong-jin seemed remarkably relaxed, coming out of his tuck position.
The pair were clear of the bunch as they came into the final straight, both assured of places in Sunday’s final – but Jong-jin still had plenty left to ease past his rival, for a comfortable win. Third-placed finisher Sung Nak-song 4 was later disqualified, after cutting in on Jung Jae-won 7 with half a lap remaining.
Sunday’s final was a much tighter affair. Once again, Jeong Jong-jin 1 positioned himself directly behind Im Chae-bin 6 in the line. Chae-bin followed Kim Woo-Gyeom 7‘s move to the front as the bell rang, then waited for his opportunity to turn on the power, and claim the lead in the final bend.
But Jeong Jong-jin had a similar plan, moving out of his rival’s wake as the entered the home straight. From there it was a drag race to the line, with Im Chae-bin holding on… until the very last pedal stroke. It took the finish-line photo to confirm that Jong-jin had made it two wins out of two.
Jong-jin has now won six of the superstars’ seven contests this calendar year, with Chae-bin’s only victory coming at Changwon last month – another one needing a photo-finish.
