The Korea Badminton Association’s 2024 Paris Olympics award ceremony was held at the Arena Hotel in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do on the 30th. Last August, the athletes who participated in the Paris Olympics received a reward of 300 million won prepared by the association.
However, two out of three medalists were unable to attend. Ahn Se-young, who won the women’s singles gold medal, and Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life Insurance), who won the mixed doubles silver medal.
Kim Won-ho had unavoidable circumstances. He is currently undergoing military training to receive military service benefits from winning an Olympic medal. Instead, her mother, Korean badminton legend Gil Young-ah, coach of Samsung Life Insurance, accepted the award on her behalf. Director Gil hinted, “My son will be discharged from military service on the 5th of next month.”
Ahn Se-young was actually the star of the award ceremony that day, but did not attend. Ahn Se-young’s side explained, “The injury rehabilitation treatment that was originally scheduled was held in the morning, and a family gathering was already scheduled for the afternoon.”
However, some interpret it as having nothing to do with Ahn Se-young’s deliberate criticism of the association and the management of the national team after the Paris Olympics. After the Olympics, the association underwent an administrative inspection by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and today was the deadline for filing an appeal.
Some have pointed out that the award ceremony was held in December last year, but the date may have been pushed back to include the award ceremony in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s appeal. Last year, the award ceremony was held on December 20th, during the national team selection period, and the entire team, including Ahn Se-young, attended.
It seems that the fact that the awkward atmosphere between Ahn Se-young and the coaching staff was not completely resolved also played a role. At the Denmark Open after the Paris Olympics, Ahn Se-young showed signs of discomfort by hardly talking to coach Kim Hak-gyun and coach Sung Ji-hyun during the game.
Regarding this, Director Kim took a cautious stance, saying, “In relation to Ahn Se-young, we have to wait in general and we need time.” He added, “I will wait first, and then we will show an active side to each other.”
There is an opinion that as the national team is newly formed, an opportunity for a change in atmosphere will be provided. Coach Kim said, “The national team selection match will be held in December, and I understand that a new system for player selection will be introduced here. I think it may be a little late, but it is time to form a new team.”
First of all, the players will participate in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2024, the king of the season, to be held in Hangzhou, China, starting on the 11th. Coach Kim said, “We will leave on the 8th and return on the 16th, and the national team selection match will be held in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province starting on the 21st.” Ahn Se-young is also expected to participate as she is ranked No. 1 in the world.
Na-eun Jeong (Hwasun County Office), who teamed up with Won-ho Kim for the silver medal that day, said with a bright expression, “The players are all nice and fun, so the relationship between the players and the coaching staff is good.” He then smiled and said, “It feels good to be congratulated by the players at the event created by the association.”
Also, regarding the 2024 season, Na-eun Jeong said, “This year was eventful,” and looked back, “I didn’t think people would have expectations of me as a fan, but it was a surprising result.” He added, “It was difficult starting from the Olympic ranking points race, but I’m glad I finished well with Wonho.”
