Hwang Sun-woo of Korea checks his time in the semifinals for the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming event at the Paris Olympics at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, July 28. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The reigning world champion Hwang Sun-woo failed to reach the final of the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming at the Paris Summer Games on Sunday, unable to give himself a shot at winning his first career Olympic medal.

Hwang ranked ninth overall in the semifinals with a time of 1:45.92 at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, with only the top eight advancing to the final scheduled for Monday.

Katsuhiro Matsumoto of Japan grabbed the final ticket to the final in 1:45.88.

Hwang won his first career world title in the 200m freestyle in February in Qatar, after winning bronze in 2023 and silver in 2022. The 21-year-old arrived in France as one of the medal contenders in the 200m free but didn't even make it to the final.

Another South Korean, Kim Woo-min, finished 12th in the semifinals with a time of 1:46.58. Kim won the 400m freestyle bronze medal on Saturday.

Swimming in Heat 1 of the semifinals, Hwang had the fastest reaction time with 0.59 second and was in the lead through 100m at 50.95 seconds. But he lost steam over the home stretch and fell all the way to fifth in his group at the finish.

Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo, left, of South Korea react to their performances in the semifinals of the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming event at the Paris Olympics at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, July 28. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

He covered the final 100m in 54.97 seconds, the fifth-slowest time in his heat. Luke Hobson of the United States, in contrast, came home in 53.75 seconds to move up from sixth to first.

Hwang's fate was sealed when four swimmers in Heat 2 finished with better times, with Matsumoto beating Hwang's mark by 0.04 second.

Hwang grabbed the first of two reserve spots. In case of withdrawal due to injury or other reasons, Hwang would be the first alternate.

Hwang's season best is 1:44.75, and it would have been the second-best time in the semifinals.

David Popovici of Romania, who beat Hwang for the 2022 world title, won the semifinals in 1:44.53. Duncan Scott of Britain, the 2021 Olympic silver medalist, was next at 1:44.94.

"This was a huge letdown. I felt pretty good during the heats and during the warmup for the semifinals," Hwang said. "It's disappointing, but since I have the relay left, I will try to be better prepared than I was today."

Hwang was referring to the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, where South Korea will try to win its first-ever relay medal. Hwang and Kim were expected to be the leaders of the unit, but their 200m performances Sunday don't bode well for the team.

The relay is scheduled for Tuesday.

Kim, whose main event is the 400m freestyle, didn't come close to qualifying for the final in the 200m.

Hwang and Kim were the first set of South Korean teammates in an Olympic swimming semifinal, but their hopes of taking another step forward together were dashed. (Yonhap)