Popularity march by taking pictures of the daily life of the national team… Over 1 million subscribers during the Olympics
Vancouver Relay 銀… back to canada
“I wanted to change the medal color, but it’s a pity… We will announce the short track in various ways.”
“I really wanted to change the color, but it’s a pity.”
The voice of Kwak Yoon-gi (33, Goyang City Hall, photo), the eldest of the Korean short track team, who only woke up on the afternoon of the 17th because he fell asleep while talking with the team members until 5 am, was still full of regret. Yoongi Kwak won the silver medal in the men’s 5000m short track relay finals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on the 16th. It was a medal from the men’s relay for the first time in 12 years, but his expression was not bright after the race. In a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo on the 17th, he said, “I couldn’t manage my facial expressions because I was sad.”
There was good reason. He made his Olympic debut in Vancouver in 2010, and this is his third Olympic appearance. He won seven gold medals at the world championships, but had nothing to do with an Olympic gold medal. The silver medal in the men’s relay in Vancouver is all there is. His desire to win a gold medal in this Olympics, which may be his last, was so desperate.
In particular, in Vancouver, Canada, led by Charles Amlain (38), gave up the gold medal. This time, she was defeated by Canada, where Amlain had played, and ended up with a silver medal. Kwak Yoon-gi said, “I was aiming for a gold medal in 12 years, but I was upset that I lost to Canada like I was 12 years ago. “I was angry with myself that the same thing happened over and over again.” The Korean national team led the team in the finals, but right before he was replaced, he twisted briefly and was overtaken by Canada. “The skating blade got caught in the fine ice,” he said. The blade was badly damaged, but I was fortunate to have endured it.”
After the Olympics, he will participate in the World Championships next month and return to his team. He, who is on a contract until December, said: “I haven’t decided if I’m going to do more of his playing career. He’s longing for a gold medal, but seeing my 11-year-old brother next to me doesn’t seem like it will be easy,” he said. Then, in a low voice, he added, “Because of Junseo,” as if pointing to Lee Jun-seo (22, Korea National University), the youngest member of the national team.
Although the medal color did not change, thanks to the fans’ support, he secured 1 million YouTube subscribers and received the ‘Gold Button’. The number of subscribers to the YouTube channel ‘Hold on to Yoongi’, which he runs, surpassed 1 million on the 17th. The number of subscribers, which was about 100,000 before the Olympics, exceeded 600,000 in the middle of the Olympics. It is the result of a crowd of fans cheering for him. It means that fans made a ‘YouTube Gold Button’ for him who missed the gold medal.
During the Olympics, he took videos of the athletes’ village and national team and uploaded them to YouTube. He drew explosive attention, and thanks to the support, he dreamed of becoming the ‘first Olympic gold medalist on YouTube’. “The unthinkable happened,” he said. It’s like a dream to the extent that I don’t know if I deserve this kind of attention,” he said.
By Kim Dong-wook, staff reporter [email protected]