Legendary Park Tae-hwan's storm cheer"If you do as Kim Woo-min did, you will go up wherever you want"
Jul 26, 2024
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Park met with reporters at the La Defense Arena in Paris on the 26th (Korea time). On the 27th, he expressed his generous affection for his junior Kim Woo-min, who is trying to win his first 400m freestyle race and his first medal. "On the one hand, I'm proud that a Korean player can come back to the top of the world in the 400m freestyle, and there were many good players, not because I did well." I'm so happy to have 400 meters among them, and I hope to win a gold medal tomorrow." "Now it's Kim Woo-min, you have to make it yourself, so you've been doing so well until the Marenostrum tournament, so if you do what you've been doing, I think you'll be able to get to the podium where you want the most."," he said with anticipation.
He also gave advice to Hwang, who is trying to compete in the podium for the first time in 12 years since he won a silver medal at the 2012 London event in the 200m freestyle. "I think Hwang Sun-woo might have some pressure personally. I saw the Tokyo Olympics as an opportunity, but there may be areas where I took good care of and supplemented my disappointment four years ago. I hope that this time, I will shake off my disappointment and achieve it." "200m is actually one of the most challenging events. He added that he hoped to have a good game because he was on the rise on the record, although he even had a match against Popovich and Marenostrum. "There may be some greed, but I think there's a good chance of winning if you race with the energy and memories of the world championships or Asian Games rather than racing with it." I hope you can relieve your disappointment from 3 years ago," he said, expressing his support.
Park also expressed joy and surprise at the race for the 200-400m freestyle multi-medal and the multi-medal, the symbol of a swimming powerhouse. "It was so hard and difficult to think and imagine the podium like this in the individual competition, but when I think about it, my mind goes blank. It is very valuable that this kind of thing comes in Korean history and swimming history to be able to overcome the medal and think about it and challenge it again and again in the team event," he said, adding special meaning. "I hope this atmosphere will continue for a long time in the future, and I hope it will go higher in the future, and I personally feel a bit sorry that I'm not there for the half-joking and serious night." he smiled. When I asked him to try again, he said, "I'll be 40 soon," he said with a smile. "If you focus a little on individual competitions, isn't it easier for four people to do the team competition?" "That's why the swimming status and skills in Korea have been upgraded." It's not like this, but I think we've become a country with that much competitiveness to be able to cross the world and compete with players from other countries and be ranked first and second. "When I think of Asian swimming, I thought of China and Japan, but now I am in a position where Korean athletes can shout loudly." Now, I think I have this position because of the really proud players, rather than junior players. On the other hand, I am grateful."
"The Olympic stage is not like I'm running in a competition, but I'm nervous and excited. Not only Kim Woo-min but also Choi Dong-ryul is preparing for tomorrow. Kim Woo-min will stop the first start, so if he shows that great performance, I think the players who continue the other path will be able to run a good race with a good record."
sky4us@sportschosun.com
