Обсуждение участника:“I will show you golden kicks in the eyes of the people.”
Taejun Park's first men's Taekwondo gold challenge in 16 years Transforms into a 'switch' that changes the position of the feet according to the opponent Beats senior Jangjun in 6th and 7th rounds, gets a ticket to Paris, prepares for actual competition by using his younger brother as his partner from June
“I will capture the image of winning a gold medal in the eyes of the people.”
These are the words of Park Tae-jun (20), the national Taekwondo men’s 58kg class representative. Taejun Park will be the first Korean Taekwondo player to hunt for a gold medal (August 7th) at the Paris Olympics, which opens on July 26th (local time). Taejun Park, whom I recently met at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in North Chungcheong Province, said, “Personally, I fought really fiercely and hard to qualify for the Olympics. “I don’t want to miss out on this dream-like opportunity,” he said.
Taejun Park won a ticket to Paris by winning two consecutive wins against senior national team member Jang Jun (24) in the national team selection match (2 wins out of 3) held on February 1 this year. Jang Jun is the athlete who reigned as the strongest player in this weight class, winning a gold medal at the 2019 Manchester World Championships, a bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. Park Tae-jun also defeated Jang Jun at the end of the 7th period of 6 matches.
Taejun Park said, “I have never lost to anyone more than twice while practicing Taekwondo. But I lost to Jun six times. After the third loss, I got angry with myself. Ahead of the starting match, I changed my style against him, including changing his basic stance to the opposite. “This seems to have worked well,” he said.
Taejun Park was originally a player who played with his left foot in front. However, he changed his style to putting both feet in front alternately to get over Jangjun. When it comes to baseball, he has transformed from a right-handed hitter to a switch hitter. Taejun Park said, “If you use both feet skillfully, you will have more options to play the game. “Even in Paris, I will make it as complicated as possible for the opponent,” he said.
Even for Korean athletes, the ‘home country’ of taekwondo, an Olympic medal is no longer an easy dream. Korean Taekwondo failed to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago with one silver medal and two bronze medals. It was the first time since Korean Taekwondo was adopted as an official sport (2000 Sydney Games) that it received only 'no gold' at the Olympics. The men's situation is even worse. Korean men's Taekwondo has been on a tear since the 2012 London Games. The last to advance to the finals is 'world star' Lee Dae-hoon (32), who won a silver medal in the 58kg class at the London Games.
Park Tae-jun is ‘Hoping for Lee Dae-hoon’ and still keeps the photo he took with Lee Dae-hoon when he was in the 4th grade of elementary school. He wanted to become Lee Dae-hoon's junior and chose Hanseong High School in Seoul. Park Tae-jun, who became friends with Lee Dae-hoon in high school, has been looking for Lee Dae-hoon every time he needs his older brother. And prepares for Olympic gold 'with the help of his younger brother'. Park Min-gyu (17), the younger brother of Park Min-gyu (17), a second-generation member of the national team in the 54 kg weight class, is scheduled to enter the Jincheon Training Center starting in June and serve as Park Tae-jun's training partner. Park Tae-jun said, “His younger brother said, ‘I will never allow you to look at it to the extent that you think it is an actual Olympic stage.’ “He said, ‘If you win a gold medal, you should thank me.’” “When I was in middle school (Sadang Middle School in Seoul), my teacher told me, ‘If you’re having a hard time, imagine winning a gold medal.’ “These days, he is training with joy and waiting for his younger brother, imagining himself on the Olympic podium.” He continued, “It hurts my heart to hear that Taekwondo is no longer as fun as it used to be. I want to let people know how fun Taekwondo is at the Olympics, which is attracting a lot of attention. In order to use a seemingly fun technique like the back kick (5 points), you must have the ability to overwhelm your opponent. He pledged, “I will improve my skills and show a good performance.” 고스톱