2024-08-04 04:58:31
First Olympics after turning 30… Contributes to winning gold medal by leading juniors
Chairman Jeong Ui-seon expresses gratitude to Jeon Hoon-young after individual exhibition
The eldest member of the South Korean women’s archery team, Jeon Hoon-young (Incheon Metropolitan City Hall), who is in her thirties and is competing on the Olympic stage for the first time, took good care of her juniors and contributed to the team’s gold medal run at the Paris Olympics.
Although she did not win an individual medal, as the eldest sister, she led her juniors and won the women’s team gold medal. Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group, who is also the president of the Korea Archery Association and the Asian Archery Federation, visited Jeon Hoon-young in person and encouraged her right after the individual event on the 3rd.
For Jeon Hoon-young, Tokyo could have been his first Olympics four years ago. He was expected to be a medal candidate, but the Olympics were pushed back a year due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). He gave up his spot to his juniors in the national team selection competition that was held again. He had to wait for the next Olympics after gritted his teeth for three years.
This year, at the Paris Olympics, he set foot on the Olympic stage for the first time since he turned 30. He had not won any international competitions since winning two gold medals at the 2014 World University Championships, but he achieved his dream of competing in the Olympics by joining the national team in April of this year.
Jeon Hoon-young, born in 1994, is the older sister of Im Si-hyeon, born in 2003, and Nam Su-hyeon, born in 2005, by about 10 years, but she gave up the privileges of being an older sister.
When Jeon Hoon-young arrived in Paris and was deciding on the team’s accommodation, he raised his hand and said, “I will share a room with a table tennis player.” This was to take care of his juniors, who were also in their first Olympics. The accommodation was a two-person room, so one of them had to share a room with an athlete from another sport, but he took the initiative to set an example for his juniors.
When one of the coaching staff asked, “Is it okay for you to be with athletes from other sports for more than ten days, when it’s not even your Taereung days?” Jeon Hoon-young replied, “I’m okay as long as my younger siblings are comfortable.”
Even inside the stadium, Jeon Hoon-young did his part. Because he shoots arrows quickly, he was the first runner in the team event. In the archery team event, 120 seconds are given for each set. Three players must shoot two arrows each, a total of six arrows, within 120 seconds. If the first runner shoots arrows quickly, the second and third players have that much more time.
In the women’s team final against China on the 28th of last month, she shot 10 points five times. She especially contributed greatly to winning the gold medal by shooting 10 points in the overtime deciding match (shoot-off). It was the moment when Jeon Hoon-young, who had not been on the international stage for 10 years since 2014, won her first gold medal on the senior stage.
In the individual event, Jeon Hoon-young also had a close match with gold medalist Im Si-hyeon in the semifinals that went all the way to the final set.
According to the coaching staff, Jeon Hoon-young’s personality is said to be cheerful and easygoing, rather than sensitive. During team games, he would occasionally throw in some strange jokes to ease the tension of his younger teammates.
Thanks to Jeon Hoon-young’s performance, the women’s archery team not only won the team event for the 10th consecutive time, but also won gold medals in all the events in which the women competed, including the mixed and individual events. All three national team members were participating in their first Olympics, so there were some who said they were relatively lacking in experience in big games, but they achieved remarkable results.
Immediately after the match on the 3rd, Chairman Jeong Ui-seon visited Jeon Hoon-young to encourage him, drawing attention. Although he did not win an individual medal, Chairman Jeong expressed his gratitude to Jeon Hoon-young for encouraging and leading his juniors throughout the competition.
In a joint press conference (mixed zone) interview with reporters that day, Jeon Hoon-young said, “There were many worries and concerns about the national archery team, but in the end, we won three gold medals in all events,” and “There was a lot of pressure, but we achieved our goal. As a team, I am satisfied with the results.” He added, “I have no regrets because we worked hard without resting while preparing. The biggest feeling is the sense of relief.”
[서울=뉴시스]
2024-08-04 04:58:31