Park In-bee, Kim Yeon-kyung, Jin Jong-oh, Lee Dae-hoon and Kim So-young complete the first gateway to the IOC… Oh, Jin-hyuk ‘interview no-show’
Five athletes aiming to become International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commissioners have completed the first gateway.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Korean Olympic Committee held an evaluation committee to assess the IOC candidates at the Olympic Parktel in Bangdong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Each candidate spoke about their aspirations and answered pointed questions from the evaluators.
The six candidates for the IOC Athletes’ Commission are Kim Yeon-kyung (35) from volleyball, Park In-bee (35) from golf, Lee Dae-hoon (31) from taekwondo, Jin Jong-oh (44) from shooting, Oh Jin-hyeok (41) from archery and Kim So-young (31) from badminton.
Five of the athletes had actual interviews that day. Oh did not attend the interview as he was in France for an archery training camp. The national archery team is currently aiming to win all the events at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
The Korean Archery Federation informed the Sports Ministry in advance that Oh was unable to attend the interview due to his schedule.바카라사이트
Korean shooting legend Jin Jong-oh (4 gold, 2 silver) is South Korea’s most decorated Olympic medalist, along with archer Kim Soo-nyeong (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze).
The “Empress of Golf” Park In-bee is also an Olympic medalist. She won gold in Rio in 2016. In addition, she has 21 wins on the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour, including all four majors.
Lee Dae-hoon, who won two Olympic medals (one silver, one bronze) and serves on the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Athletes’ Commission, is competing for a spot alongside Kim Yeon-kyung, a two-time women’s volleyball quarterfinalist, and badminton’s Kim So-young, who shared a bronze medal with Gong Hee-yong in Tokyo.
After the interviews with the evaluation committee, the KOC will recommend the final candidates through a senate meeting on Thursday morning. The Senate was established in November last year to recommend key sports-related personnel to the government and national administrative agencies and advise on sports policies.
Following the Senate meeting, the NOC’s Athletes’ Committee will vote on the shortlist between the 16th and 17th. The NOC will then notify the IOC of the one finalist selected in the last week of August.
The shortlisted Korean representative will then have to pass the IOC-organized Athletes’ Commission election shortlisting process to be eligible to run. The IOC Athletes’ Commission elections will take place during the Paris Olympic Games, which begin next July. The top four candidates will be voted on directly by athletes around the world, who can cast up to four votes, to serve an eight-year term as IOC Athletes’ Commissioners.
There have been two Korean IOC Athletes. Moon Dae-sung, a gold medalist in taekwondo at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was the first Korean to be elected during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Yoo Seung-min, a gold medalist in the men’s singles table tennis event at the Athens Olympics, was elected by the Korean Table Tennis Association during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. His eight-year term is coming to an end. Until the Paris Olympics next August.
Before the interview, Lee Dae-hoon met with the press and said, “I prepared as best I could, and I will express my ambitions without regret in the interview. I’m a little nervous because it’s my first official interview. I prepared as much as I could with image training like a workout.”
As the candidates are representing their respective countries, they are required to have excellent English skills. “I studied English and watched a lot of IOC-related videos. If I use this as an opportunity, it will help me in sports diplomacy and administration in the future.”
“It’s not an opportunity for everyone,” he said of his decision to become an IOC Athlete Commissioner. If I become an Athletes’ Commissioner, I would like to develop taekwondo, the national sport of Korea, and contribute to the development of sports in Korea.”
Kim Yeon-kyung said, “I’m very nervous. I’ve studied a lot, and I’ll be able to talk well in the interview.” “I have some English because of my experience abroad. However, to be an athletes’ commissioner, I have to use different professional words than usual. I focused on that part of my studies.”
“I had always vaguely dreamed of becoming a sports administrator or a diplomat. As I was approaching retirement, I thought about what I could do for sports and decided to do it.”
As for what sets him apart from the other candidates, he says, “I played team sports, not individual sports. I was a national team captain for a long time. I’ve also been a captain abroad for a long time. I’ve built bridges between associations and organizations. Based on this, I think my ability to solve problems will be excellent. I also think I have an advantage in terms of influence in promoting sports,” he said encouragingly.
Jin Jong-oh said, “I am challenging myself again this time. I’ve prepared harder because of my past experience.” Eight years ago, he competed against current Korea Table Tennis Federation President Yoo Seung-min and Vice Minister of Culture Jang Jang-ran, but failed to make the final cut. Jin Jong-oh received high marks for his 20-plus years of playing and his achievements, but he was rated low in the English section.
President Yoo Seung-min overturned the odds and was selected to serve as an IOC Athlete Commissioner during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“I studied English one-on-one for three hours a day,” says Jong-oh. I also took private lessons. I felt that I needed to have a professional conversation. I think it will go well because I worked hard,” he said.
“I feel nervous,” he said, “unlike at the Olympics.” “I’ve been a member of the Korean national team for 20 years, and that’s half my life. Now, I want to dream of a life of representing Korea and supporting athletes rather than being an athlete, so I’m applying to be an IOC Athlete Commissioner.”
Finally, Jin Jong-oh said, “If I am selected to represent Korea, I believe that the friends I have made during my 20-year national team career will be with me. I have friends all over the world who are now coaches or executives. I believe in them,” she added.
“I have long dreamed of becoming an IOC Athlete Commissioner,” said Park. That’s why I went to Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. I could have announced it in advance through the media, but I kept quiet and focused on my studies,” she said.
“I want to contribute to the development of sports in Korea and spread the Olympic spirit around the world,” she said confidently.
Park In-bee’s strength is her English language skills. “It is an honor to be here with such a strong field of competitors. I think I can be the right person for the IOC Athletes Commission,” she said in fluent English.
[Photo: Inbee Park / Jinjoo Noh.
Golf was reinstated to the Olympic program at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. As a result, there are concerns that even if she is selected to represent South Korea, it will be difficult for her to be selected as an IOC Athlete Commissioner.
“Golf is a popular sport that is broadcast in 227 countries and watched by 1.1 billion households,” Park said. “I think popular sports have great advantages, and I think golf is one of them.”
“I heard that Seung-min Yoo ran 450 kilometers during his campaign and lost 5 kilograms. I’m going to run 500 kilometers and lose 10 kilograms,” he laughed.
Kim So-young said, “It’s a great honor to compete with such a strong field of candidates,” and added, “I’m very nervous. I haven’t been to an Olympic final yet, but I think I’m just as nervous.”
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