North Korea, from colleague to now enemy?… Canoe Dragon Boat Team “I will win without looking at you”
Kim Hyun-hee, who won the gold medal with the unified North and South Korean team 5 years ago, said, “Let the national anthem ring out”
Coach Park Min-ho, “We will not be on special alert even if North Korea comes out… Our standards are the top team.”
“I really want to do my best without being judged.
We want to win.”
Asian Games
Kim Hyun-hee (Daejeon Metropolitan Sports Council), captain of the canoe ‘Yongseon’
women’s national team that will participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games,
answered with a firm voice the question about North Korea’s possibility of participating. 카지노사이트
The canoe dragon boat team held a media day at the auditorium of the Buyeo Women’s Cultural Center in South Chungcheong Province
on the 7th and expressed their determination and aspirations to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Canoeing is largely divided into sprint, dragon boat, and slalom, of which the dragon boat has 12 athletes,
including 10 paddlers, a coxswain, and a drummer.
Korea Canoe Federation
It is an event in which players (separate one candidate) compete as a team.
It was adopted as an official event at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, and at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games,
a unified North and South Korean team won gold in the women’s 500m and bronze medals in the women’s 200m and men’s 1,000m.
There is a possibility that North Korea will appear as an enemy at the Hangzhou Games, where a total of six medal races will be held, including the 200m, 500m, and 1,000m for men and women.
There has been no clear confirmation from the Korea Canoe Federation whether North Korea is participating in the dragon boat event yet.
However, since the competition is being held in China, a ‘blood-affiliated country’, it is predicted that North Korea will send athletes to various sports.
The federation is also paying close attention to the possibility of North Korea participating
Kim Hyun-hee
Kim Hyun-hee, who won a gold medal with a unified North and South Korean team five years ago,
said she knows the skills of North Korean athletes.
Kim Hyun-hee said, “We trained together (with North Korean players) for a long time and achieved good results.
I miss them, but if North Korea participates anyway, I think they will be our rivals.
I know the skills I saw back then.”
At the same time, he clearly stated that there was no need to consider ‘old affection’.
Kim Hyun-hee emphasized, “This time, I will wear the Taegeuk symbol and train hard with juniors (not North Korean players) to reach the top position.
I will do my best to make our national anthem resonate.”
Byeon Eun-jeong
Byeon Eun-jeong (Guri City Hall), who shared the honor five years ago, even shed tears as she bid farewell to the North Korean players.
Looking back at that time, Byun Eun-jung said, “(In this competition), of course, we want to do better.
We have to do better,” and added, “I think it will be a new feeling when we meet.”
Ahn Hyun-jin (Hwacheon County Office), who won the bronze medal as a single men’s team, also showed his fighting spirit, saying, “A game is a game.”
However, he added, “When we parted ways, I remember saying that we would see each other on a good note the next time we meet again.
North Korea’s Participant
I hope we will work hard in the game and have an opportunity to say goodbye after the game is over.”
Leaders say they will not pay special attention to North Korea’s participation.
The targets of attention for men’s and women’s national team coaches are not North Korea, but China, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Park Min-ho, coach of the Yongseon men’s national team, said, “It is said that the existing strong teams (not North Korea) have prepared well for this tournament.
We have data no matter which team plays,” and “rather than being especially wary of just that team
because North Korea is appearing, we will look at the top teams.”
“We will prepare for the areas where we are lacking as a standard,” he said.