S. Korean Wrestling Team Emotional Ahead of Asian Games

JINCHEON, South Korea, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- What is typically a cheery occasion turned into a solemn one Wednesday for the South Korean national wrestling team, as its head coach and his athletes broke down in tears at their joint press conference while discussing the upcoming Asian Games.

South Korea's wrestling has fallen on hard times lately. The country was shut out of medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics -- the first time it had failed to reach the podium since 1972 -- and also failed to grab a medal at the next Olympics in 2024. In 2023, South Korea managed just two bronze medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, for its worst Asian Games performance in 57 years.

An Han-bong, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist who now coaches the national team, fought back tears as he implored his athletes to change the narrative next month at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

"We have our backs against the wall," An said at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, some 85 kilometers south of Seoul. "I hope our athletes will go out and prove that Korean wrestling is not dead."

Listening to An, some of his wrestlers also became emotional.

"I think everyone here has the same goal as our coach," said Chung Han-jae, the reigning Asian Games bronze medalist in the men's 60-kilogram Greco-Roman event. He will be competing in the 67kg class this year. "I want to win gold and show how good Korean wrestling is."

For a photo-op, wrestlers unfurled a Taegeukgi, the South Korean national flag, with words of their resolution and goals written on it after the no-medal performance at the 2024 Olympics. They have been traveling to all international competitions with this flag over the past two years.

"I want to win gold and celebrate by wrapping my body in this flag," said Kim Min-seok, who won bronze in the men's 130kg Greco-Roman event at the last Asian Games.

Korea Wrestling Federation (KWF) President Kim Ik-heon said the sport in the country long reached an inflection point.

"People in the sport have been only worried about their vested interests, instructors have been too casual in their response, and athletes have been a mess mentally," Kim said. "We cannot afford to just keep saying we will get back on our feet. We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror."

The KWF has set sights on a gold, a silver and six bronze medals at this year's Asian Games, but it may be overly optimistic, considering the current plight of the team.

Chung and Kim Min-seok, the two medal contenders, are both dealing with injuries -- Chung coming back from a broken right elbow and Kim with a torn pectoral muscle. Most others who have been tabbed as medal hopefuls lack international experience.

To further motivate the downtrodden team, KWF President Kim, who also runs a pork processing company, is offering pork products to medalists.

He said gold medalists will receive a pork gift set every month for two years, and silver and bronze medal winners will get them every month for one year.