"That's what you meant?" Explosive attention poured into the 'mixed 銅' ceremony of Lim Jong-hoon's hand salute

Jul 31, 2024

On the 30th (Korea time), the bronze medal match for mixed table tennis doubles between Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin of South Korea and Wong Chun-Ting of Hong Kong was held at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, France. South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yoo-bin, who won the bronze medal, are celebrating for the stands. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.07.30/

On the 30th (Korea time), the bronze medal match for mixed table tennis doubles between Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin of South Korea and Wong Chun-Ting of Hong Kong was held at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, France. Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yoo-bin, who won the bronze medal match, are delighted. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.07.30/

'World No. 3' Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics held at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris, France on the 30th (Korea Standard Time) by beating the Hong Kong ace team 'Hong Kong team, Wong Chun-ting and Du Hoicem team (world No. 4) by a game score of 4-0. It is the first Olympic medal in 12 years since the men's team silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

At the moment of confirming the bronze medal, Im Jong-hoon, who shared a warm hug with Shin Yoo-bin, sat down holding the table tennis table, and Shin Yoo-bin duly comforted Lim Jong-hoon. Im Jong-hoon said "I raised my thanks."

Just 20 days before joining the military on August 19, Lim Jong-hoon, who won the Olympic bronze medal, raised a salute to the Korean team, Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korea Sports Council, and Yoo Seung Min, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association. Shin Yu-bin performed his unique cute heart ceremony.

Netizens interpreted the salute as a ceremony that means 'disposal'. I thought it meant 'Goodbye army, good bye'.

Questions about the transfer of artistic and sports personnel (special military service) given to Olympic bronze medalists continued toward Lim Jong-hoon, who entered the mixed zone. Im Jong-hoon was honest. "When I first started mixing, I thought of special military service. When I asked (Jang) Woo-jin, who I experienced at the Tokyo Olympics, he said it would be weird if I couldn't think of anything. I acknowledged that and decided to focus on one game and one game with Yubin. We set our keyword as a challenge. That idea helped me a lot with mind control."

It's not just a bronze medal that was made in one day. My favorite table tennis, my journey to win a medal was painful and intense. Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yoo-bin have been running tirelessly for nearly two years since they first joined hands with the goal of winning a medal at the 2022 Paris Olympics. The second seed was needed to secure an advantageous match to avoid the strongest Chinese group until the end. It has taken a global turn from Oman, Peru, Brazil, India, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, Slovenia, Croatia, Nigeria, and Thailand. He constantly scored ranking points in WTT competitions around the world. There was no place that didn't hurt because I had to continue to participate in the competition without resting. Injuries were inevitable. Shin Yoo-bin's team, Korean Air, provided business seats to help him recover, while Lim Jong-hoon's team, the Korea Exchange, dispatched trainers to help manage his injuries. Since May, back pain has worsened, and Lim Jong-hoon has worn a belly bandage and played in the game. MRI taken about a month before the Olympics showed signs of bones growing and weighing on muscles and nerves, but it could not be stopped. He showed off his injury fighting spirit in the mixed doubles every season at the Olympics. Im Jong-hoon said "It was said that my bones grew, but I couldn't give up the Olympics. If it was fasting, I might have bought myself. I had my share of mixed doubles with Yubin. I tried to cover everything as long as I couldn't because my back was broken."I looked back on the desperate challenge. Shin Yu-bin said "There were injuries, and there were times when I kept losing, but I wanted to tell myself 'Well endured' to the end without giving up."

sky4us@sportschosun.com