After spending the past several days inside a Team Korea bubble south of Paris, Korean swimming medal hopefuls Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo trained in the French capital for the first time Monday ahead of the Olympic Games.
It finally made them feel like the big competition was just around the corner.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) set up a local training camp for its athletes, called “Team Korea Paris Platform,” about 60 kilometers south of Paris in 스포츠 Fontainebleau. Kim and Hwang, both of them reigning world champions, had been among those who were able to prepare for the Paris Olympics there, surrounded by familiar faces while dining on Korean food.
The swimming team moved to Paris on Monday afternoon and checked into their athletes’ village, four days before the opening ceremony and five days before the start of the swimming races.
The venue for the swimming competition, Paris La Defense Arena, wasn’t going to be open to athletes until Tuesday, forcing the Korean swimmers to train at a training venue elsewhere in Paris, Aulnay-sous-Bois Aquatics Center.
They worked out for about 90 minutes, and getting out of the Korean camp provided a nice jolt to the system.
“Training at our camp went very well, and I started my tapering today,” Kim said, referring to the process of reducing training volume and intensity to prepare for his 400-meter freestyle race Saturday. “I am excited about my race.”
