[위클리 리포트] The festival is not over… Paris Paralympic Games open on the 29th
Interview with Ji-Yoo Yoon, the ‘Pippi’ of the Disabled Table Tennis World… Selected as the Youngest National Representative in Just 2 Years Since Starting as a Player
World No. 1 in third Paralympic Games… “I want to win again in 4 years and become a sports administrator”
Ji-Yu Yoon (24) is known as the ‘Ppyak-ee’ of Korean disabled table tennis. Just like Yu-Bin Shin (20) did in non-disabled table tennis, Ji-Yu Yoon also received attention as a ‘table tennis prodigy’ during her childhood. The fact that they are competing in three events in Paris is something that Ji-Yu Yoon and Yu-Bin Shin have in common. Also, both players are from Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
Not only table tennis, but most of the Korean national disabled athletes became disabled after they became adults. That is why they cannot help but start exercising late. The average age of the Korean athletes participating in the Paris Paralympics (Paralympics) is 38.7 years old.
On the other hand, Ji-yu Yoon, who was paralyzed from the waist down when she was three, started holding a racket when she was twelve. And she began her career as an athlete in earnest in 2014 when she was fourteen. Ji-yu Yoon, whom we met at the Icheon Athletes’ Village where national disabled athletes train, smiled and said, “I guess my greatest strength is that I can immediately learn what the coaches tell me because I started exercising at a young age.”
Two years after starting her career as an athlete, Yoon Ji-yu returned to Korea as the youngest national representative at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, winning a bronze medal in the team event. And at the 2021 Tokyo Games, where she was also the youngest national representative, she won a silver medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the singles. Her goal for this Paris Games is to win gold medals in all three events (women’s singles, doubles, and mixed doubles).
Yun Ji-yu is ranked No. 1 in the world in women’s singles, a TT3 category (the lower the number, the more severe the disability), and competes in a wheelchair. So it would be strange for her to have other goals.
Yoon Ji-yu said, “Before, I always lost to the same players and never got over it. But now that I finally beat this player, I feel confident that I can win the gold medal in Paris as well.” She added, “My goal when I started my career as an athlete was to become world number one, and I finally achieved it. I will definitely achieve my goal of winning the gold medal in Paris as well.”
Last year, Yun Ji-yu won the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games by defeating Xue Juan (34, China) in the women’s singles final. Xue Juan defeated Yun in the semifinals of the Tokyo Paralympics and went on to win the gold medal. Yun Ji-yu said, “In the past, I tried to beat Xue Juan by going aggressive first, but I often got counterattacked. So I practiced holding rallies for a long time, and that became the driving force that allowed me to beat Xue Juan.” She added, “This time too, I will do my best with the mindset of ‘being more persistent and getting one more win. ‘”
He continued, “I have already reached the top in the World Championships and the Asian Games. If I win a gold medal in the Paralympics, I will have conquered all three major world competitions.” He added, “Rather than retiring right away, I would like to participate in the Los Angeles Paralympics in four years and win two consecutive championships. After that, I would like to start studying and work in sports administration.”
Icheon = Reporter Kim Jeong-hoon [email protected]
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2024-08-24 14:34:35