Training center chief wants Korea to believe in itself

The 100-day countdown for the 2012 London Olympics has officially begun and Korean athletes are making their final preparations for the quadrennial event.

More than 350 athletes are currently staying at the national athlete’s village in Taeneung, in northern Seoul and training hard to boost their chance of success in London, according to Park Jong-kil, the head of National Training Center.

Korea is aiming to win more than 10 golds to finish within the top 10 at the world’s biggest sporting event, Park said.

On Friday, Park was busy checking the athletes’ schedule.

The Olympic athletes, he said, have to bear not only their rigorous training sessions but also the weight of the nation’s expectation.

“They are already under enormous pressure,” he said.

Park Jong-kil, head of the National Training Center (Chung Hee-cho/The Korea Herald)

But the 66-year-old former Olympic shooter added, “They must stop worrying and start believing in themselves.” He spoke from experience.

Park was the country’s best shooter in the 1970s and ‘80s, winning two gold medals at the Asian Games.

He was the country’s best medal hopeful at the 1984 Olympics, but failed to win a medal.

“I had the best round on the first day, but ruined the second day of the competition because I just couldn’t see the target,” he said.

The night before the game he was suffering from a shoulder pain.

“I over trained, and because of the pain I couldn’t get sleep before the game.”

Athletes practice at the National Training Center in Taereung, Seoul. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)

Things would be different if he were training today, he claimed.

“I had no physician or massage therapist. There was only one nurse in the entire training center.”

But now in each discipline has its own physicians, trainers and also a team of sports science experts helping the athletes with their training in Taeneung, Park said.

Since its establishment in 1966, the Taeneung Training Center has been a stepping stone for the development of Korean sports, producing numerous medalists.

Training facilities for 20 different sports, including athletics, gymnastics, handball and hockey, are spread over the 100,000 square meter site.

Park said that without the training center, Korean sports would not have come this far.

Since he took the helm of the national training center in January 2011, Park has been devoting his energy and knowledge to supporting the athletes so they are in top condition for the upcoming Olympics. “My philosophy is to make themselves at home here,” he said.

Both small and large improvements ― from planting trees to upgrading leisure facilities ― were made throughout the training center to make it more comfortable for them.

Park said he also tried to be friendlier to the athletes ― memorizing all of their names and the staff was the parts of the efforts.

He also often gives pep talks to the athletes when they ask him for professional as well as personal advice. He said most recently, the 2004 gold medalist Jung Ji-hyun came to talk to him.

The 29-year-old wrestling champion felt that he is now too old for a gold medal in London.

“So I told him, ‘Look. I played until I was 45, and was still able to win. You’re still young,’” he said.

But he admits sometimes discipline is necessary. “Using mobile phones during training is absolutely forbidden,” he said, and for a moment his friendly smile faded.

“If you can’t focus at training, you won’t be able to focus at the Olympic game.”

Four years ago in Beijing, Korea garnered 31 medals, including 13 golds, to finish seventh in the medals table. This year, some 250 Koreans will compete in the London Olympics, which is slated from July 27-Aug. 12.

For the first time, Korea will run a training camp equipped with a gym, a dormitory and a cafeteria at Brunel University in west of London during the London Games.

“It’ll be the base for our athletes and for the firs time, we’ll be able to bring their training partners, physicians and even catering staff to ensure the best possible training conditions for them. They’ve already trained hard. But it’s now time to build up their confidence and believe in themselves.”

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldm.com)