The rising star of Korean men’s taekwondo, Park Tae-jun (20), won the gold medal in the men’s 58kg class at the Paris Olympics held earlier this month, showing overwhelming skill. Park Tae-jun’s gold medal was the first gold medal that Korean taekwondo has won in the men’s 58kg class at the Olympics.
After Park Tae-jun won the surprise gold medal, the person who was mentioned the most was ‘world star’ Lee Dae-hoon (32). This is because Park Tae-jun was a so-called ‘Lee Dae-hoon kid’. Park Tae-jun took Lee Dae-hoon as his ‘role model’ and started doing taekwondo in earnest since the 5th grade of elementary school. After that, he wanted to be his junior and went on to Hansung High School, where Lee Dae-hoon graduated.
![Professor, Broadcaster, YouTuber… Taekwondo ‘World Star’ Lee Dae-hoon “I’m Happiest Now” [이헌재의 인생홈런]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/08/19/126581406.1.jpg "Professor, Broadcaster, YouTuber… Taekwondo ‘World Star’ Lee Dae-hoon “I’m Happiest Now” [이헌재의 인생홈런]")
The lightest weight class in men’s taekwondo, men’s 58kg, was a category that Korean athletes, the home of taekwondo, had not previously conquered. The previous best performance was a silver medal won by Dae-Hoon Lee at the 2012 London Olympics. Dae-Hoon Lee moved up to the 68kg class at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and won a bronze medal. He failed to win a medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
For Park Tae-jun, it is like realizing the dream of an Olympic gold medal that his ‘role model’ Lee Dae-hoon could not. Park Tae-jun said, “Until now, Hansung High School only had silver and bronze medals (won by senior Lee Dae-hoon). I am happy that I have made up for it by winning the first gold medal.”
Lee Dae-hoon commentated on Park Tae-jun’s game in Korea. He said, “When I first saw (Tae-jun), he was a cute little ‘baby.’ I thought he would be a good player, but I didn’t know he would grow so quickly. Congratulations on the historic gold medal.” Lee Dae-hoon also gave Park Tae-jun a one-point lesson when he visited his old school.
The two also have something in common: they are very considerate of each other. Park Tae-jun’s final opponent, Gasim Magomedov (Azerbaijan), suffered a shin injury early in the match and complained of pain several times. Park Tae-jun checked his condition every time the match was stopped. Even after Magomedov withdrew, he approached Magomedov and knelt before expressing his joy at the victory, and checked his condition first. At the awards ceremony, he helped Magomedov, who was limping, to the podium. This was Park Tae-jun’s “dignity as a winner.”
This scene overlapped with the scene Lee Dae-hoon showed after losing to Ahmad Abughaush (Jordan) in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Games. At that time, Lee Dae-hoon suppressed the pain of defeat and showed his ‘loser’s dignity’ by raising Abughaush’s hand high to congratulate him. Lee Dae-hoon said, “Actually, I was in the best shape and most confident during the Rio Olympics. I thought I should humbly accept the result since I did my best.” He continued, “Abughaush was so happy after winning. I thought for a moment that I should celebrate my opponent’s joy rather than my sadness.”
Lee Dae-hoon, who was called a ‘world star’ after winning the World Championships and Asian Games several times, retired after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Although his dream of an Olympic gold medal was left unfulfilled, he said, “I worked so hard that I had no regrets, so I was able to leave without any regrets.”
He is currently living a more satisfying ‘second life’ than anyone else. Many star athletes suffer from emptiness or a sense of emptiness after retirement, but Lee Dae-hoon is an exception. This is because he is doing various activities, including various sports that he was unable to do during his playing days.
In the place of the title ‘player’, new titles such as ‘professor’, ‘commentator’, ‘broadcaster’, and ‘YouTuber’ were created.
Last year, he received his doctorate from Sejong University with a thesis on the convergence of the 4th industrial revolution and Taekwondo. He immediately began lecturing to physical education students in the fall semester of last year. Lee Dae-hoon said, “I lecture to general physical education students, not elite athletes, for six hours a week. I still have a hard time adjusting to being called ‘professor.’ I was nervous and worried at first, but I think teaching students is becoming more and more fun.”
During the Paris Olympics, he worked as a commentator for a terrestrial broadcasting station. He has also been appearing regularly on soccer entertainment programs for several years now.
Lee Dae-hoon also does YouTube activities as a hobby and a job. His YouTube channel called ‘Dae-hoon Dae-hoon’ has close to 60,000 subscribers. The content includes videos of him playing with his son, simple ‘eating shows’, Taekwondo-related content, and various hobby activities.
I started YouTube as a hobby around 2019, when I was playing for the national team. I used to spend my free time after playing sports, filming and editing videos by myself.
It was a personal channel with less than 1,000 subscribers, but after competing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, it quickly gained over 50,000 subscribers. He said, “I started YouTube for fun. My original goal was to save memories with my 6-year-old son. But I’m grateful for the love and support from so many people. I don’t want my channel to be known too much. I don’t even go out and promote it. That’s because I feel like if I get too many subscribers, I’ll have to do it professionally. I think things are just right for now,” he said with a laugh. He also said, “When you film YouTube, you naturally become accustomed to the camera, which helps a lot when you’re doing broadcasting.”
After working hard for 3 or 4 days a week, the remaining days are free time for him. Lee Dae-hoon himself said, “It’s like working 3 days a week. I’m not too busy, but I’m not too idle either. That’s why I’m very satisfied with my current life.”
The thing he does most in his free time is exercise. He said, “If I don’t move my body, my body swells and I feel like something is stuck between my blood vessels,” and “I have to eat well and sweat through exercise to feel lighter. Then I can sleep well.”
These days, he is enjoying the sports he couldn’t do because of his Taekwondo career. One of his favorite activities is road cycling.
He started riding a bike last year and often goes on rides along the Han River with his friends. Once a week, he goes on long rides to various places around Seoul. He said, “I’m a total beginner, but I personally like uphill riding. I’ve been to Doseonsa Temple in Uiwang-dong and Yumyeongsan Mountain in Gapyeong.” He added, “It’s fun to visit places I’ve never been to. The joy of eating delicious food with my companions after riding is also great.”
He has also been learning tennis for about 6 months. He is not yet at a level where he can play, but he says he has good strokes. He said, “When I was in the athletes’ village, I enjoyed playing various sports games. Among them, I was good at tennis, so I definitely wanted to learn it someday if I had the chance.”
I still play soccer often, which I enjoyed with my teammates since I was on the national team. I also train for soccer separately from filming broadcasts. Lee Dae-hoon said with a smile, “Even after I quit being a taekwondo player, I think I still exercise at least three days a week.”
The difference from his days as a Taekwondo athlete is that it is a sport he enjoys. Taekwondo is also a sport he enjoyed and worked hard at, but as with all weight classes, there was always the difficulty of controlling his weight. Standing at 183cm tall, he had to lose extreme weight to compete in the 58kg class at the 2012 London Olympics.
He said, “Not only me, but all taekwondo players easily lose about 5kg in two days. If you run hard and sweat a lot in the steam room, you can easily lose 4 or 5kg.” “However, when I competed in the 58kg weight class, I ate only one meal as usual and didn’t eat anything for two days before. Most players go through that process.”
He, who ran as a candidate for the Korean Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year, is looking to become both a taekwondo instructor and a sports administrator in the future. He briefly served as a national team coach at the World Championships last year and said, “I wanted to show my ability to coach and train with athletes. Taekwondo is what I do best. If there is a place that needs me in the future, I will gladly respond.”
At the same time, he is also preparing steadily for the path as a Taekwondo administrator. He said, “As a Taekwondo person, I want to work for the development of Taekwondo in the Korea Sports Council, the Korea Taekwondo Association, and the World Taekwondo Federation (WT),” and “English is absolutely necessary to work on the international stage. That is why I am studying steadily.” He said, “As a Taekwondo player, I was a really sincere and hard-working player,” and “I want to be remembered as a sincere and honest person in my future life. I will work harder to become someone who people want to do something with and who people feel drawn to.”
Reporter Lee Heon-jae [email protected]
2024-08-20 15:12:29