Han-sol Kim, Worked Hard Because of Greetings
[Asian Games] Hansol Kim “I Worked Hard Because I Heard a Lot of Greetings, hahaha!”
Kim Han-sol (Seoul City Hall), who has been a mainstay of Korean men"s artistic gymnastics for nearly 10 years, started the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games with a smile and ended it with tears.
He won his first gold medal in the floor exercise and became the star of the podium with a bright smile, but in the vault exercise, he almost held the gold medal in his arms with his overwhelming skills, but did not bow to the referee to signal the end of the competition, so he stayed in second place.
In gymnastics, you must make eye contact with the judge or bow to indicate that you are done after performing.
Kim Han-sol, recalling that memory, smiled again, showing his white teeth, and happily said, "I heard so many people say hello to me, so after today, I really did my best to say hello."
In the floor exercise finals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which ended at the Huanglong Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 28th, Hansol Kim achieved his second consecutive victory in the competition, beating China"s Zhang Boheng and Lin Xiaofan with an unrivaled performance of 14.900 points.
Among Korean gymnasts, Kim Han-sol is the third to win the Asian Games two times in a row, following Yeo Hong-cheol, executive director of the Korean Gymnastics Association (professor at Kyung Hee University), and Kim Su-myeon.
Kim Han-sol, who quietly celebrated the gold medal by hugging coach Kim Dae-eun after the victory was confirmed, said in an interview in the joint coverage area, "Normally, in domestic and international competitions, when I played as the first player in the finals, I was not able to show my skills for 80 to 90% of the time, but Coach Kim said,"
He said, “Since we are number 1, this time we should get a really good result at the front to discourage the players behind us,” and commented, “That strategy seems to have worked.”
After Kim Han-sol received a total score of 14.900 with a difficulty score of 6.0 and a practical score of 8.900, no score was surpassed by Kim Han-sol.
Jang Bo-heung, who competed last with the one-sided support of Chinese fans, attempted a flip with a difficulty level of 6.1, 0.1 points higher than Kim Han-sol.
However, thanks to Jang Bo-heong"s shaky landing at the last minute, Kim Han-sol became the owner of the gold medal.
Regarding the part where Jang Bo-heung wavered under pressure at the last minute, Kim Han-sol interpreted that he was ahead in a battle of wits.
Kim Han-sol explained, "I was 0.1 points behind Jang Bo-heong in the difficulty level, but it was a difference that could be easily overcome depending on whether I moved slightly or not at all when landing," and added, "I think the Chinese player tried to do well but made a big move."
Kim Han-sol said, “I am proud of the fact that I became the third Korean athlete to win the Asian Games two times in a row,” and added, “I really wanted to win the vault gold medal this time, which I missed due to greetings at the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, but I made a mistake in the team preliminaries. “It was disappointing.
Other than that, I’m happy that I achieved what I set out to achieve in this competition,” he said.