“Obviously, the goal is to win a gold medal. But my lifelong goal is to break the 10-second barrier.” Joeljin Nwamadi made his ultimate ambition clear. Competing for the Yecheon County Office track and field team, the 20-year-old sprinter is widely regarded as the “hope of Korean sprinting.” Breaking the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters has long been a dream for Korean sprinting, one that even retired national record holder Kim Kuk-young fell short of achieving, with a personal best of 10.07 seconds. If Nwamadi succeeds in finishing in under 10 seconds, the feat would also give him a strong chance of reaching the podium at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. When the Hankook Ilbo met him at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province, the sprinter, set to make his Asian Games debut, was poised to pursue multiple milestones. So far, his momentum suggests the prospect is not entirely beyond reach. On July 19, Nwamadi crossed the finish line in a men’s 100-meter guest race at the 2026 Niigata Prefecture Athletics Championships in 10.13 seconds, a personal