2024-07-27 18:55:34
4th consecutive Olympic appearance… “I’m proud of myself”
Kim Seo-young (30, Gyeongbuk Provincial Office), the star of Korean women’s swimming who will be the flag bearer for the Korean team at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics held on the 26th (local time), could not hide her excitement.
Kim Seo-young met with reporters after completing her official training at the Paris La Defense Arena in France and said, “This is my fourth Olympics, but the previous three Olympics were held in the early stages of the competition, so I never went to the opening ceremony. This Olympics is held in the latter stages of the competition, so I really wanted to go, and I’m so happy that I have the honor of being the flag bearer,” adding, “I’m excitedly waiting for the opening ceremony.”
Kim Seo-young will enter the opening ceremony holding the Taegeukgi together with Woo Sang-hyeok (28, Yongin City Hall), a high jump athlete in track and field.
This year’s opening ceremony is even more special because it is held on the Seine River. Instead of each country’s team entering the stadium one by one, they will parade on the Seine River.
Kim Seo-young smiled brightly and said, “I’m not sure yet how the opening ceremony will proceed, but I think I’m very excited and looking forward to it.”
Kim Seo-young, who was the flag bearer with fencing player Gu Bon-gil at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last year, said, “It was honorable and great to be the flag bearer at the Asian Games. That moment was very memorable,” and added, “This time, I am able to stand in this position at the Olympics. I think I will receive good energy at the beginning of my fourth Olympics and it will have a positive effect on my performance.”
Kim Seo-young will be competing in the Olympics for the fourth consecutive time, following London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and Tokyo in 2021.
Kim Seo-young is the third Korean swimmer to have competed in the Olympics four times, following Park Tae-hwan and Nam Yu-seon. She is the second Korean swimmer to compete in four consecutive Olympics, following Park Tae-hwan, but the first Korean female swimmer to do so.
For Kim Seo-young, who is already 30 years old, this Olympics will likely be her last.
Kim Seo-young has failed to make it to the finals in previous Olympics. She competed in the 400m individual medley at the 2012 London Games but was eliminated in the preliminaries, and suffered defeat in the semifinals of the women’s 200m individual medley at the 2016 Rio Games and the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Kim Seo-young, who is also competing in the 200m individual medley at this competition, will compete in the preliminaries and semifinals on August 2. If she makes it to the top 8 in the semifinals, she will advance to the finals on August 3.
Kim Seo-young, who shed tears saying that the Hangzhou Games last year were her last Asian Games, said, “I didn’t think much about it before coming to Paris, but once I got here, I felt that time passed quickly. I feel bittersweet,” and expressed her determination by saying, “I want to focus more during the games and do my best until the end to get a good record.”
He continued, “I only made it to the semifinals at the Olympics, but I really hope to make it to the finals.”
Kim Seo-young, who has been training at the Paris La Defense Arena since the 23rd, said, “The Olympic swimming pool itself makes people excited. It makes me want to compete quickly,” and “I felt good when I got in and swam. The feeling of floating in the water was also good.”
Park Tae-hwan, who competed with the team in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, attended this competition as a commentator for SBS.
Park Tae-hwan said to Kim Seo-young, with whom he had been a swimmer, “This could be your last Olympics, so I hope you can finish on a high note.”
Kim Seo-young smiled and said, “Before coming here, I only thought about wanting to go to the Paris Olympics, but now that I’m here and preparing, it feels like I have time to praise myself. I feel proud.”
Over the 12 years since the first Olympics, Korean swimming has also changed. With the emergence of the golden generation, Korean swimming is expecting to produce multiple medalists in these competitions.
Kim Seo-young said, “The atmosphere of watching Korean swimming has definitely changed. Now, I can see that they are secretly keeping our athletes in check,” and “I feel that Korea’s status has risen a lot.”
[파리=뉴시스]
2024-07-27 18:55:34