Ahn Se-young, world number one in badminton women’s singles, received the Presidential Citation Award from the Korea Sports Awards.
Ahn Se-young won the Korea Sports Award in the competition category at the ‘2025 Sports Development Contribution Award and the 63rd Korea Sports Awards Ceremony’ held at the Westin Chosun Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 21st.
The Korea Sports Award, established in 1963, is an award given to athletes and coaches who have contributed to the development and promotion of sports. Ahn Se-young is the third badminton player to receive the Korea Sports Award, after Park Joo-bong in 1991 and Kim Dong-moon and Na Kyung-min in 2003. However, Ahn Se-young, who is competing in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Australian Open, was unable to attend the awards ceremony.
Ahn Se-young, who won her first badminton women’s singles gold medal in 28 years at the Paris Olympics last year, participated in a total of 13 international competitions this year and achieved nine gold medals. She rose to the top of the women’s singles world rankings for the first time in August 2023 and has been at the top of the world for 120 weeks until recently. The cumulative prize money for the season is also estimated to have exceeded 1 billion won.
The Korea Sports Awards’ Leader Award was awarded to coach Choi Yong-ho, who discovered badminton player Ahn Se-young, the Paralympic Games Award was awarded to Kim Hwang-tae, who impressed people at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, and the Paralympic Sports Award was awarded to Go Gwang-man, vice president of the Yeoju City Disabled Sports Association.
Hwang Gyeong-seon, father of national swimming team member Hwang Sun-woo, was selected as the recipient of the ‘Athlete’s Greatest Parent Award’, a special award commended by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
A total of 60 people were named as recipients of awards in the category of meritorious contributions to sports development. This is the highest honor in the field of sports, awarded to athletes who have contributed to the development of sports since 1973.
A total of 12 people, including bowling Lee Na-young and Kang Hee-won, soft tennis Kim Beom-jun, and disabled table tennis Joo Young-dae and Kang Oe-jeong, were awarded the Blue Dragon Medal, the highest rank of the Order of Sports Merit. A total of 18 people, including shooting Kim Jong-hyun, judo Bang Gui-man, Kim Seong-min, and the late Choi Sang-young, former president of the Korea Sports Council in Japan, received the Maengho Medal, and a total of 15 people, including judo Kim Seong-yeon, received the Giant Medal. A total of seven people, including archery Kim Seong-hoon, were awarded the White Horse Medal, rowing leader Ahn Hyo-gi was the Kirin Medal, and taekwondo leader Jang Se-wook were selected as recipients of the Sports Medal.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young said in a congratulatory address that day, “The sweat and effort of the award winners is the pride of Korean sports. All of us felt great pride in the performance of our athletes at last year’s Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games.” He added, “The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also work harder to help Korean sports leap higher and further in the lives of the people.”
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