Gangwon D-1 Winter Youth Olympics… ‘Rupee on the Ice’ Jung Hee-dan, who is aiming for the 500m gold, is familiar with Taereung thanks to his father in national wrestling, “I am very proud of come back with my own strength and I will run on the ice without regret in the competition at home.”
Jeong Hee-dan, competing for the women’s 500m speed skating gold medal at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games, posed in front of the camera holding sharply polished skates. Through this competition, Hee-dan Jeong expressed her determination to grow into a leading figure in Korean women’s speed skating, following Lee Sang-hwa and Kim Min-seon. Reporter Byun Young-wook cut@donga.com
‘Luffy on Ice’ Jeong Hee-dan (17, Seonsago) is ‘Kim Min-seon’. For Jeong Hee-dan, who self-assesses that he resembles the character Luffy in the animation ‘Porong Pororo’, his life mentor and wannabe (the person he wants to resemble) is Kim Min-seon (25, Hall the City of Uijeongbu) . Although they have already joined the national speed skating team, Kim Min-seon is also the ‘athlete I want to meet the most.’ Kim Min-seon won the women’s 500m gold medal at the 2016 Lillehammer Winter Youth Olympic Games, leapfrogging the ‘post-Lee Sang-hwa (35, retired)’ front runner. Jeong Hee-dan is also determined to cement his position as the ‘post-Kim Min-seon’ leader by winning a gold medal in the same event at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, which opens on the 19th.
Jeong Hee-dan, whom I met recently at the Taereung International Skating Rink in Seoul, said, “My fandom grew bigger while training with Min-seon. “Even though I want to see you, it’s not something I can see anytime, but I want to see you all the time,” he said. ) said a lot of nice things to me, telling me, ‘Do well in the Youth Olympics.’ “I hope I can meet my sister again with good results,” he said with a smile.
Hee-dan Jeong, who has been participating in the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Speed ​​Skating World Cup starting this season, won the 500m gold medal with a time of 39.33 seconds in the second competition held in December last year. Naoke Hana (19, Japan), the winner of the first competition, cannot participate in this competition due to the age limit (15 to 18 years) for the Youth Olympic Games. The third competition has not yet taken place. Jeong Hee-dan said, “I think it will be a big help to be able to receive support from my family since the competition is held in Korea. I hope my personal best (38.96 seconds) comes out. “I will ride it without regret,” he said.
Jeong Hee-dan grew up using the Taereung Athletes Village as a playground thanks to his father, Jeong Tae-gyun, who was a national wrestler. The picture shows Jeong Hee-dan trying to lift a weight of 100 kg during his ‘Little Little’ days. When Jeong Hee-dan was in his third year of middle school, he was selected for the national team and returned to Taereung alone. Provided by Jeong Hee-dan
Jeong Hee-dan first encountered skating when he was seven years old, using inline skates that his maternal uncle bought for him. Jeong Hee-dan, who was extremely fast from a young age, started his career as a top athlete in elementary school when he started taking online lessons. I also did well in taking first place in competitions. Then, when I was in the 4th grade in elementary school, I changed my sport to speed skating.
Jeong Hee-dan said, “Even when I was an inline player, I always went to the ice rink with my father on the weekends. I have done many different sports since I was young. “But when I was skating, the only thing that happened to me was, ‘I want to keep trying.'” He also said, “I was planning to quit as soon as he gave up the best to be fun. My thought was, ‘I should do fun things when I’m having fun.’ Of course, skating is still the most fun.”
Jeong Hee-dan was first named to the national team reserve team in 2022 when he was in his third year of middle school. Jeong Hee-dan’s father took his daughter to the Taereung Athletes Village and asked, “Hee-dan came here a lot when she was young. Do you remember?” Jeong Hee-dan’s father is Jeong Tae-gyun, a former member of the national wrestling team. Jeong Hee-dan said, “When I was young, I came to the Taereung Athletes’ Village a lot with my father. For me, the athletes’ village was almost a playground. “My father personally took me to various training camps and guided me,” he said.
The Taereung Athletes’ Village, where I came as a national team player, was not a ‘playground’, but a ‘battlefield’. I had to repeat difficult training every day. Jeong Hee-dan said, “When I finish training, I spend every day thinking, ‘I made it through today well.’ Still, I know very well that sincerity brings back good medals and records. “I train with the mindset that today is me saying to my future self, ‘If you want to smile, do it,'” he said. “For fans, every game might look the same. However, the process of preparing for a game is different. I am very happy if the record is even 0.01 seconds faster, but I am very disappointed if something is lacking. So, every game is new, and I play with more concentration.”
He continued, “I’m grateful that you mention me along with great players like Sanghwa and Minseon. “I feel a sense of responsibility,” he said, and went to the training centre, saying, “After the 22nd (when the main event, the 500m race takes place), I want to be presented as a gold medalist in the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympic Games.”
Correspondent Lim Bomi bom@donga.com
#athletes #village #playground #battlefield #follow #Kim #Minseon
