Chu Eun, a shooting gold medalist, "relieved from the revenge battle at the Tokyo Olympics"

Shooting gold medalist Koo Chu-eun "Relieved from the revenge of the poor performance of the Tokyo Olympics"

(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Song-ah = "I think it's the most difficult time to give an interview about your thoughts on winning. It has to come from the heart, but there's nothing to be happy about."

These were the first words of Cho Kwang-hee (Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall), the national canoeing team member, who attended the medalist press conference held at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Korea House in Nagoya, Japan on the 26th.

On the 24th, Cho Kwang-hee shared the gold medal with Kim Hyo-bin, Jang Sang-won, and Choi Min-gyu in the men's kayak 4-man (K4) 500m canoe sprint, and the next day, he rose to the top again with Kim Hyo-bin in the 2-man (K2) event, earning the honor of becoming the first Korean team to win two gold medals in this competition. In particular, Korea won its first ever gold medal in the K4 event.

Jo Gwang-hee, whose expression was not bright even after being congratulated, confessed, "I won, but I felt a lot of sadness in my heart. It reminded me of what I did with evil and evil, so I feel more sad than happy."

He said, "K4 players have to work together for a long time to increase their chances of winning, but there were a lot of things that the national team called on and off. There were times when we gathered together and trained. We gathered from all over the country at Misari or Andong Stadium to train." He added, "K4's gold medal was a surprise, and I think it gave K2 momentum thanks to that."

Cho Kwang-hee, who appeared several times in tears as if he had mixed feelings during the press conference and later when he met with the reporters, expressed his wish when asked about 'what he would like to see improved in the environment' by saying, "First of all, I hope (the federation) listens to the players' opinions."

Kim Hyo-bin (Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall) said, "Because there are not many days available for training at the athletes' village, it is difficult to do it outside the village. There are also limits to purchasing equipment. If you actively support it, I think canoeing will be able to develop one step further than it is now."

Cho Kwang-hee said, "He provided the athletes' village with an 'ergometer' that allows us to train indoors when we cannot train on the river in the winter. The existing one was over 10 years old, so purchasing it was helpful," and added, "I would like to say thank you to Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sports Council."

Shooting gold medalist Choo Chu-eun (Imsil County Office), who also attended the press conference, recalled the Tokyo Olympics held in Japan five years ago.

Chu Eun Chu, who won the women's 10m air pistol individual event on the 23rd, said, "I did not perform well at the Tokyo Olympics. I feel relieved and honored to come back to Japan and get revenge," and laughed, "It still feels like a dream and I can't believe I won the gold medal."

The shooting team was distressed for a while as they did not win a gold medal after the start of this competition, but on the fourth day, thanks to Chu Eun, they were able to sound the 'golden gunshot'.

Coach Lee Ho-rim of the national team said, "During the domestic field training, we created an environment similar to the Aichi Prefecture shooting range to conduct final training. It took us an hour and a half to go to the shooting range, which is 30 minutes away, to adjust to the on-site conditions," and added, "When we came here, the reality was even more difficult, but the experience of training in Korea had a positive effect here."