Yang Hak-seon wins Korea’s first Olympic gymnastics gold

by Robert Koehler on August 7, 2012

in Korean Sports

Holy crap:

Tagged as: Summer Olympics 2012, Yang Hak-seon

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

1 ZenKimchi August 7, 2012 at 3:37 pm: Effin’ sweet! Got a little tear in my eye. Think it’s the air con.
2 kaizenmx August 7, 2012 at 3:39 pm: Near perfect landing… or is that a perfect landing? Can’t tell. Not a gymnastic enthusiast.
3 코리 August 7, 2012 at 4:04 pm: I always love it when the athletes pushing the limits of their craft (regardless of what sport really) are rewarded with the victory. This kid stepped up and did vaults with almost a full point greater difficulty level than any other of his world class competitors. Now that he won the gold with it the “Yang Hak-seon” (his first vault) will probably be a standard in competitions by the next games in 2016.
4 silver surfer August 7, 2012 at 6:33 pm: Is this a vindication of ‘Tiger Moms’ or what? Britain produced only 2 bronze medals and a silver in gymnastics this time around – worth far less than a single gold. However, Britain also celebrated in its opening ceremony its tradition of children’s literature, J K Rowling included, which, by implication, means a celebration of a certain idea of childhood.

Does there have to be a dichotomy between having a wonderful ‘sunlit childhood’ (Gerald Durrell) and being pushed to be the best you can be? Personally, I’m grateful for the experiences my parents gave me in a great childhood, but at the same time to be pushed to excel when you are growing and developing more than you ever will again – how great must that be?
5 Cliff Smith August 7, 2012 at 7:19 pm: What makes the victory even sweeter is when you see where the guy lives with his folks:

http://sports.chosun.com/news/ntype3.htm?id=201208070000000000005485&ServiceDate=20120807

Someone’s life is about to change! Diggit.
6 hardyandtiny August 7, 2012 at 8:17 pm: These athletes are amazing.
7 PekingMan August 7, 2012 at 9:09 pm: @Silver Surfer: You clearly know nothing about sport. Almost all the competitors are technically excellent but it all comes down to how you perform on the day. On the day Yang pulled it off and all credit to him.
8 CactusMcHarris August 8, 2012 at 2:00 pm: I’m glad he won the gold, but were the other contestants….less good? That stumble at the end maketh a perfect landing not.

And thanks for the video – I’m surprised the IOC hasn’t served you, though.
9 CactusMcHarris August 8, 2012 at 2:02 pm: Robert has this on the sidebar, but foreigners behaving sordidly a la Corea should be more publicized, don’t you think?

http://news.yahoo.com/never-ever-joke-north-koreas-olympics-team-171408808.html
10 Hamel August 8, 2012 at 2:18 pm: Cactus: his first landing was imperfect, but the greater difficulty of the maneuver seemed to make up for it.
11 gymnasticsparty April 22, 2013 at 4:01 pm: My family got tears in their eyes after seeing this video. Seon played very well in this game.