From the Beijing Winter Olympics to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the year 2022, which was overflowing with large-scale sporting events, is coming to an end. Here is a summary of famous sports scenes that made Gangwon-do residents cry and laugh over the past year.
■ Laughing at the Beijing Winter Olympics medal news and crying at the biased judgment
Last February, following the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which was the long-awaited wish of the people of Gangwon-do, the Winter Olympics stage was held in China, a neighboring country. Hwang Dae-heon (23, Gangwon Provincial Office), the Korean team’s ‘No. 1’ gold medalist, showed a perfect run in the 1500m event, exceeding unfair and biased judgments, giving joy and emotion. In addition, Gangneung City Hall curling team Team KIM, male skeleton Gangwon warrior Yun Seong-bin (then Gangwon Provincial Office), and ‘cabbage boy’ Lee Sang-ho (from Jeongseon) participated in the match, which received great attention in Beijing following Pyeongchang. In particular, Kim Bo-reum (Gangwon Provincial Office), who overcame the criticism of ‘bullied driving’ and competed proudly, said, ‘I am a proud national representative of Korea. Fighting for Korea!” The match of Kim Eun-ji (Gangwon BS Sports Federation), the national skeleton team member who finished her first Olympic stage in her life, left a deep impression on her heart.
■ Asia’s first EPL scorer, Son Heung-min, from Chuncheon, pays worldwide attention
Born on July 8, 1992 in Chuncheon, the young boy stood tall as the best player in the English Premier League (EPL), the world’s top stage. Not only the residents of Gangwon Province, but the whole world is paying attention to the toes of ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who is leaving a new footprint in Asian football history beyond Korean football. Living in the ‘era of Son Heung-min’, we have been watching the production of records of ‘living legends’ one after another. Son Heung-min became the first Asian to become the top scorer in the top 5 European leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France). Salah (Liverpool), who was joint top scorer, has a record of 5 PK goals, but Son Heung-min added meaning by becoming the top scorer without a PK goal. ‘Tottenham senior’ Lee Young-pyo, former CEO of Gangwon FC, praised Son Heung-min’s rise to the top scorer as ‘an event as great as mankind’s going to the moon’.
■ ‘Chuncheon Duo’ Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan, who led the World Cup round of 16 after 12 years
The 2022 Qatar World Cup, held for the first time in winter, created many surprises and records. ‘Chuncheon Duo’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) led Korean soccer to the World Cup round of 16 in 12 years. In the second half of the match against Portugal in the third match of the group stage, Heung-Min Son of ‘Wolcle’ broke through, goal-keeping and sharp pass, and Hee-Chan Hwang of ‘Bull’ broke the solid Portuguese defense and was selected as the best goal of the year by domestic soccer fans. . In particular, Son Heung-min’s appearance itself was unclear due to a facial fracture injury, but he showed a fighting spirit wearing a mask and playing in the game, and Hwang Hee-chan also silently overcame a hamstring (muscle behind the thigh) injury and was responsible for Bentuho’s attack, and the two players were in charge of the ‘moving drama’. came out as the main character. In the round of 16 against Brazil, they lost 1-4, but fans were proud of Bentojo, who did not back down and competed confidently against strong teams throughout the tournament.
■ Hwang Seon-woo, a ‘swimming star’ who looks beyond Asia to reach the top of the world
Hwang Seon-woo (19, Gangwon-do Office), who spent his first year as a player on the unemployment team in Gangwon-do, left a distinct mark this year by rewriting the history of Korean swimming with each current. Hwang Seon-woo showed off his world-class skills at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships held in Budapest, Hungary in June. The silver medal won by setting a new Korean record of 1:44:47 in the 200m freestyle final is the 11th year since Park Tae-hwan (33), the gold medalist in the men’s 400m freestyle at the 2011 Shanghai, China event, as a Korean player in the long course (50m) world championship management event. It was a medal harvested after a long time. Hwang Seon-woo won one silver medal in this event and broke Korean records five times, including the team event. Hwang Seon-woo’s reverse performance continued in the short course (25m). In the men’s 200m freestyle final at the 2022 FINA Short Course World Championships held in Melbourne, Australia in December, he won the gold medal with a new Asian record of 1:39:72 and ended the year meaningfully by succeeding in his second consecutive victory. Meanwhile, on the 29th, Gangwon Province invited provincial athletes such as Hwang Seon-woo, who performed well at the 16th World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia, at the provincial government office to give special encouragement.
Hoseok Kim [email protected]