Is it the endless decline of Korean elite sports, or is it a rebound toward the Paris Olympics next year? Korea’s elite sports are at a crossroads.

As of the 16th, the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games (September 23-October 8), which is approaching 100 days ahead, is the stage. This event is an ‘Asian festival’ in which all 45 member countries of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), including North and South Korea, participate.

However, at the 18th Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in 2018, Korean Sports gave Japan the second place in the Asian Games, which it had maintained since 1998, for the first time in 20 years. Then, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it ranked 16th in the overall ranking, falling to a level similar to that of the 1976 Montreal Olympics (19th overall), 45 years ago.

Korean sports ranked 10th overall at the 1984 LA Olympics with 6 gold, 6 silver, and 7 bronze medals, and then ranked 10th overall for 32 years, except for the 2000 Sydney Olympics (12th overall) until the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the 2020 Tokyo Olympics The result was below expectations.

Moreover, Korean sports are very likely to be pushed back by Japan as in the Jakarta-Palembang Games just before this Hangzhou Asian Games, and there is a prospect that it will be difficult to enter within the top 10 in the Paris Olympics next year.

This expectation is because the Korean Olympic Committee is still negligent in preparation, such as not even prospecting to win a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. At least by now, the prospects for the color of medals in each event should be out, but the Korean Olympic Committee is showing a complacent attitude, saying, “We don’t know because the selection of representative players in each event is not over.”

‘ah! It’s been a long time since Korea’s athletics fell to the 3rd class in AsiaAs for Korean sports, China first appeared in the 1974 Tehran Asian Games, and it was pushed back to third place in the 1978 Bangkok and 1982 New Delhi Asian Games. Except for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, it maintained second place overall after China in the Asian Games for 28 years.

However, after Chairman Lee Ki-heung took over as the 39th president of the Korea Sports Council in October 2016, the power of the national team in each event rapidly collapsed. I gave up my top seat.

At the Asian Games at the time, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon flew to Jakarta on behalf of President Moon Jae-in to encourage and return to Jakarta. Korea lost to Japan (75 gold, 56 silver, 74 bronze) with 49 gold, 58 silver, and 70 bronze medals.

This slump continued at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the Tokyo Olympics, which was delayed by one year to July 2021 due to the aftermath of Corona 19, Korea only ranked 16th overall with 6 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze medals. 10th overall at the 1984 LA Olympics, 4th in 1988 (Seoul), 5th in 2012 (London), 7th in 1992 (Barcelona) and 2008 (Beijing), 2016 except for 2000 (12th in Sydney) (Rio), Korean sports, which had been in the top 10 overall in the Summer Olympics for 32토토사이트 years, recorded the worst overall ranking.

On the other hand, Japan ranked third at the Tokyo Olympics with 27 gold, 14 silver and 17 bronze medals. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Japan, which ranked 6th overall, two steps ahead of Korea (8th overall), widened the gap with Korea even more. Even considering that Japan is the host country, it is evaluated that the Korean national team’s performance was below expectations.

Collapsing Korean sports… Responsible for Lee Ki-heung, president of the SportsThis inevitably comes down to the responsibility of Korea Olympic Committee Lee Ki-heung, who leads Korean sports, no matter what anyone says. Chairman Lee was re-elected after the election for the president of the Korea Sports Council in January 2021, but he has not produced any significant results in strengthening the power of the national team.

The situation could be different if Chairman Lee devoted his passion to frequent local sports and meetings with sports leaders who have the right to vote in the Korea Sports Council election to fostering and encouraging elite sports, but the reality is regrettable.

Recently, when asked about the prospect of winning a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games to an official from the Korea Sports Council for the purpose of writing this manuscript, the answer that came back was, “It is not yet known because the representative selection for each event is not over.” However, it is pointed out that this is just an excuse.

Even before the Korea Sports Association and the Sports Association for Life were integrated, they made power analysis data to cope with training ahead of the Asian Games or Olympics, but it is doubtful whether the current Korea Sports Association has the ability to do so.

Anyway, I hope that the Korea Sports Council will more closely manage the power of the representative players to go to the Hangzhou Asian Games, which are approaching 100 days ahead, and furthermore, restore the lost honor in the Paris Olympics next year and regain the self-esteem of the world’s top 10 in Korean sports.