BC3 Mixed Pair Kang Seon-hee and Jeong Ho-won
Kang Seon-hee, debut at age 40… First Paralympic challenge
Jeong Ho-won, 5-time Paralympic gold 3-silver 2-bronze 1
The Paris Paralympics (Paralympics) will begin a 12-day competition starting with the opening ceremony at 3:00 AM on the 29th. Just as the Korean women’s archery team won the women’s team event for the 10th consecutive time in the non-paralympic Olympics, Korean boccia will also challenge for the 10th consecutive gold medal in the Paralympics through this competition. ‘Rookie’ Kang Seon-hee (47) and ‘veteran’ Jeong Ho-won (38) are the leaders of the Korean boccia team.
Kang Sun-hee is known as the ‘Jeon Hun-young of Boccia’. Just like Jeon Hun-young, the national female archery team that first stepped onto the Olympic stage at the age of 30, Kang Sun-hee is also a late bloomer, making her first appearance in the Paralympics. When we met Kang Sun-hee on the 27th at Arena Paris Sud, where she is training for the competition, she said, “At first, I felt burdened, thinking, ‘Why is it my turn to win 10 consecutive championships? ‘ However, I think it would be a great honor to win 10 consecutive championships, so I think it is an opportunity now.” She added, “Just as archery achieved 10 consecutive championships through fierce trials, we also had fierce trials. I gain confidence from winning those trials.”
Kang Seon-hee was diagnosed with a level 1 physical disability in a traffic accident in December 2000, when she was 23 years old. While preparing to become a social worker, she first encountered the charm of boccia during a field training in 2016 and began her career as an athlete in 2017, when she was 40. Kang Seon-hee said, “I worried that it might be too late, but I challenged myself with the thought that ‘today is the youngest day of my life. ’” Kang Seon-hee, who first won the Taegeuk mark in 2022, won the gold medal in the BC3 mixed pairs (2-person) with Jeong Ho-won at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games and World Championships last year.
Jeong Ho-won, who is competing in his fifth Paralympic Games, is a star player in Korean boccia. He has won three gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal since the 2008 Beijing Games. Jeong Ho-won, who has been competing in boccia for 27 years, said with a smile, “I have often paired up with younger players, but this time I am playing with my older sister, so I feel more supported.”
Jeong Ho-won became a level 1 cerebral palsy disabled person due to the aftereffects of falling out of bed around 100 days after birth. Jeong Ho-won said, “Originally, only cerebral palsy players could compete in boccia. Now, there are more non-cerebral palsy players. I was afraid, ‘Will I be able to survive here?’ and tried to quit the sport.” He then said, “My coach (coach) Seung-gyeom Kim, who is the same age as me and has been working with me for 14 years, gave me strength and helped me overcome the slump. I tried to change to survive and I think my skills have improved again. I will definitely live up to Coach Kim’s expectations.” Jeong Ho-won is aiming to become a double champion in the mixed pairs and men’s individual events.
| Boccia |
| A Paralympic ball game for athletes with brain damage or other motor impairments. Each athlete (or team) throws six balls, and the score is calculated by the number of balls that are closer to the target ball than the opponent’s balls. BC3 players with quadriplegia play with the help of a non-disabled ‘playing partner’. |
Paris = Reporter Kim Jeong-hoon [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-08-28 01:07:29