No. 153 / Sep 6, 2021
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was held in 2021, is finally over. People focused not only on the ratings while watching the games but also on the special stories. In this article, The Ajou Globe (The AG) would like to talk about a couple of unique stories of the players.
“First father-daughter medalist” - Yeo Seo-jeoung
Yeo Seo-jeong is a gymnast. In the women’s vault category, she demonstrated the most difficult technology named after her, “Yeo Seo-jeong.” She scored 15.333 points to win the bronze medal. She won the first medal in women’s gymnastics in Korea and became Korea’s first “father-daughter medalist.” Her father, Yeo Hong-chul, won the silver medal in the vault category at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Yeo Hong-chul encouraged his daughter, Yeo Seo-jeong, by teaching her how to relax. He said: “I like the moment when Yeo Seo-jung won the medal more than the moment when I won the medal.” Yeo Seo-jung said she was really happy to win a medal, even though she aimed to succeed in her skills. She also said that she was able to gain confidence from her father’s encouragement and support, and that she would try to rise above him.
“Waiting engraved on Cast” - Gianmarco Tamberi
Gianmarco Tamberi is an Italian high jumper. Tamberi’s cast was broadcast at this match. “ROAD TO…TOKYO 2020” was written on it. The cast was worn by Tamberi, who was injured before the Rio Olympics. He was fit enough to hold a high jump record in Italy but was banned from the Rio Olympics due to a major injury. Five years later, he brought the cast to the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. The cast shows how much Tamberi has longed for the Tokyo Olympics, as they were not able to compete in the previous Olympics. Fortunately, he won a gold medal with Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim in the Olympics.
“A gold medal hero” - Hidilyn Diaz
Hidilyn Diaz is a Filipino weightlifter. She won the gold medal in the women’s 55 kg event at the Tokyo Olympics by lifting a total of 224 kg. It was the first gold medal in 94 years since the Philippines first started participating in the Olympics; thus, she became a national hero. In the past, due to difficult family conditions, Diaz devoted herself to training holding a water bottle filled with water instead of weightlifting. Even after winning a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, she had to go around looking for sponsorship because she had no training expenses. Nevertheless, she overcame all odds and eventually won a gold medal. She said: “It was hard at the time, but I believe that all the odds God has given me are for a reason.” Diaz, who has become a weightlifting hero, received 33 million pesos (about $653,797) as a reward.
By Lee Noo-ri, AG Senior Editor
cabello1706@ajou.ac.kr
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