South Korea to Implement Advanced Training Systems for Elite Athletes After 19th Asian Games
Key Highlights :
The 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China have come to a close, and the head of the South Korean national Olympic committee, Lee Kee-heung, has announced plans to implement advanced training systems for the country's elite athletes. South Korea finished the competition with 42 gold medals, 59 silver medals and 89 bronze medals, ranking third in the overall medal count behind China and Japan.
At a wrap-up press conference, Lee discussed short-term and long-term plans to address some of South Korea's shortcomings in athletic competitions. He noted that while the country had won a lot of gold medals, many of them came from the same sports. He pointed out that South Korea had been shut out of gold medals in wrestling and boxing, the two events where it had previously excelled.
Lee said South Korea will have a lot of catching up to do, as global trends in elite sports continue to evolve. He noted that countries such as Uzbekistan, India and Iran are catching up and could move ahead of South Korea in a couple of years. To address this, Lee said he will strengthen the KSOC's international operations and study international cases closely to see how rival nations train.
Lee also said he was prepared to embrace the emergence of non-traditional sports, such as breaking, skateboarding and video gaming, which made its Asian Games debut as "esports." He said South Korea must not be stuck in its old ways of doing things and must look at itself in the mirror to determine if it has been too content with its current position.
Lee said time is not on the South Korean side, since the next Summer Olympics in Paris will open in just about nine months' time. He said the country must pick and choose where it wants to focus on and will be using data to take a scientific approach to its preparation for the Olympics.
On North Korea's presence in Hangzhou amid strained inter-Korean ties, Lee said both sides recognize the current political climate on the peninsula. He said sports and politics are separate matters and that third parties such as China and the IOC have taken interest in this situation. He noted that North Korea is trying to determine possibilities of a breakthrough through sport exchanges, and that he is hoping they will participate in the Winter Youth Olympics next year in South Korea.
Lee's plans to implement advanced training systems for South Korea's elite athletes will be a crucial step in ensuring the country's success in future athletic competitions. With the right strategies and training in place, South Korea can continue to be a major player in the world of sports.
