Ahn Se-young: Gwangju’s Rising Badminton Star

[OSEN=강필주 기자] Praise for ‘Badminton Empress’ Ahn Se-young (23, Samsung Life Insurance) continues in Chinese media every day. Meanwhile, content linking the historical symbolism of ‘Gwangju’, where Ahn Se-young grew up, and the spirit of resistance she showed was even included.

In 2025, Ahn Se-young became the first woman to win 11 gold medals in a single season in women’s singles. This is on par with Kento Momota (Japan)’s record for most wins in men’s singles in 2019.

Additionally, Ahn Se-young recorded 73 wins and 4 losses this season, raising his winning rate to 94.8%. This broke the record for the highest win percentage in a single season, exceeding the 92.75% (64 wins, 5 losses) recorded by badminton’s ‘Messian’ Lin Dan (China) and ‘Ronaldo’ Lee Chong-wei (Malaysia).

Despite his young age, Ahn Se-young is already recognized as GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). As it has just entered its heyday, expectations for the ‘Ahn Se-young dynasty’ are rising.

China’s ‘Sohu’ focused on the courage of Ahn Se-young, who broke down wrong practices in the Korean badminton world, by linking it to Gwangju, a city that symbolizes the spirit of resistance and struggle, through a column titled ‘Ahn Se-young, Daughter of Gwangju’ on the 26th.

Ahn Se-young was born in Naju, Jeollanam-do, but spent most of her school years growing up in Gwangju. In fact, Ahn Se-young graduated from Gwangju Pungam Elementary School, Gwangju Physical Education High School, and Gwangju Physical Education High School.

The media emphasized, “Gwangju is a city that has been imprinted as a symbol of resistance spirit and struggle in modern Korean history,” and added, “Ahn Se-young’s actions were not simply the shouts of a winner, but the DNA of Gwangju against injustice was expressed on the stage of sports.”

Ahn Se-young chose the moment to receive the most spectacular spotlight after winning two gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and then a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, exposing the ills of the Korea Badminton Association.

Ahn Se-young publicly pointed out the negligence of injury management within the national team, excessive hierarchical culture, unfair treatment between players and the association, and structural problems that limited personal commercial activities. At the time, Ahn Se-young emphasized, “I needed the win to give strength to my voice.”

This statement caused a huge stir in the sports world. The result was institutional change. The Korea Badminton Association officially opened the rights of national team members to become individual sponsors, and Ahn Se-young signed a four-year contract worth 10 billion won with Yonex.

Ahn Se-young’s actions overlap with the symbolism of Gwangju and are understood as a choice to change the structure rather than being satisfied with achievements, an action that goes beyond individual success and expands the rights and interests of colleagues and juniors.

Seyoung Ahn’s innovation does not stop here. After recently achieving 11 gold medals, Ahn Se-young expressed her ambition, saying, “I want to go beyond the top of women’s singles and challenge the level of men’s singles competition.” This is being accepted as a declaration that goes beyond sexual competition and challenges another ‘sanctuary’.

This column praised, “An individual’s greatness should be evaluated not only by his grades, but also by the sport he participated in and what he did for society,” and “The reason Ahn Se-young is great is not just because of the gold medal, but because he directly broke through the evils of the sports world with the influence of an Olympic champion.” /[email protected]