"Six players, including Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min, Lee Ho-joon, Lee Yoo-yeon, and Yang Jae-hoon, will leave the athletes' village today and stay at a hotel near the stadium until the end of this month," Chung Chang-hoon, chairman of the Korea Swimming Federation, said at La Defense Arena in Paris, France on the 26th (Korea time).
The 'movement' to and from each stadium at the athletes' village in Saint-Denis, northern Paris, is the biggest concern for athletes competing in the Olympics.
The temperature inside the shuttle bus is like a sauna because the air conditioner is not working. Opening the window could be a way, but it is taped to prevent the threat of terrorism.
As a result, there are complaints among the athletes of each country that "it's much cooler outside the bus."
Moreover, it also takes 40 to 45 minutes one way for the management team to travel from the athletes' village to the La Defense Arena in Paris. When the shuttle bus does not operate according to the timetable, it sometimes takes up to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Players who need to prepare comfortably and maintain their best condition on the day of the game have no choice but to worry. "It's really hard (to manage my condition)," Hwang Sun-woo said, expressing his grievances, adding, "That's a big problem until the day of the game, and we need to find a way to solve this problem."
The Korean Swimming Federation immediately moved to relieve this inconvenience to the management team. It secured three rooms at the hotel, which is a five-minute walk from the La Defense Arena in Paris.
Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min, who are expected to win medals in the men's 200m and 400m freestyle, and six others, including Lee Ho-joon, Lee Yoo-yeon and Yang Jae-hoon and Kim Young-hyun, who will compete in the 800m relay, will stay at the hotel until all three events are over.
The reason why the Korean Swimming Federation is actively investing is because it is so determined to win an Olympic medal.
Korea has won a total of four Olympic swimming medals in history, with Park Tae-hwan winning the gold medal alone. Park became the first Olympic gold medalist in swimming by winning the men's 400-meter freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Games, followed by a silver medal in men's 200-meter freestyle. He also added silver medals in the 200-meter freestyle and 400-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Games.
The management team expects to go beyond winning a medal in 12 years at the Paris event and produce multiple medalists for the first time in history. With the advent of the golden generation, it is widely considered the "Renaissance of Korean Swimming," among which Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo, who have grown to world-class levels, will take the lead in the medal race.
"I asked the management team to tell me any inconveniences they had while staying in France. I promised to deal with them quickly at the federation level," Chung said. "I secured accommodation near the stadium after hearing that the players were having difficulty in maintaining their condition by traveling long distances on buses without air conditioning."
"As the travel distance virtually disappears, it will be easier for players to manage their condition," he added.
The management team will start a full-fledged medal race on the 27th local time.
Kim Woo-min will first compete in the 400-meter freestyle race (3:42 a.m. on the 28th in Korean time), and Hwang Sun-woo, who received a baton, will compete in the 200-meter freestyle race (3:40 a.m. on the 30th in the final race). He will also seek a team medal for the first time in the 800-meter relay race (4:02 a.m. on the 31st in the final race).
BY: 안전놀이터