Fencing men’s sabre team holds first training session in the athletes’ village…”I’m in great shape”
South Korea’s men’s sabre team has moved into the Olympic Village to begin its final preparations for a third consecutive Olympic team title.
The men’s sabre team continued training on Thursday at the training center at the Paris 2024 Olympic Village in Saint-Denis, Paris.
The team, which arrived in Paris on Tuesday as the main body of the Korean delegation, stayed at the Team Korea Paris Platform, a pre-camp organized by the Korea Sports Federation at the French National Defense Sports Center (CNSD) in Fontainebleau, about 84 kilometers from the Olympic Village, before moving to the Olympic Village on Wednesday.
At the Team Korea Paris Platform, the athletes trained on the ‘Olympic Piste’ installed at the indoor track and field center, and on the 23rd, they began their last-minute preparations at the fencing training center in the athletes’ village.
After checking their equipment at the Grand Palais, the venue of the competition, in the morning, the men’s sabre team spent two hours at the training center in the athlete’s village in the afternoon, sweating profusely.
Coach Won Woo-young worked one-on-one with Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Organization), Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), Do Kyung-dong (Armed Forces Sports Unit), and Park Sang-won (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall) to review their moves.
“That’s it!” said Coach Won Woo-young, who was drenched in sweat after taking on four players one after another by himself, expressing his satisfaction with their performance.
Koo Bon-gil and Oh Sang-wook showed off their skills so well that they were told that they were in too good of shape.
Following a “private lesson” with Coach Won, a gold medalist in the team event at the 2012 London Olympics, the athletes donned their fencing suits and faced off against each other with scoreboards lit to prepare for the individual event on the 27th and the team event on the 31st.
The atmosphere was filled with laughter and positive energy, with the eldest brother Koo Bon-gil giving tips to the younger members of the team and reminiscing about memories of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during breaks.
The men’s sabre team will be looking to win their third consecutive gold medal in the team event after London and Tokyo (Rio de Janeiro 2016 was not included in the event rotation).
Led by ace Oh Sang-wook, they will also be hoping for an individual medal.
“I’m in good shape because I did a great job of jet lag in the pre-camp. I have been working hard on technical preparation and other training since Korea, and here I am focusing on atmosphere and mental management,” he said, adding, ”I am more excited because it is my fourth Olympics, and I will carry that feeling to the competition.”
“I don’t think it will be any different to win a gold medal in the ‘home’ country of fencing, and the goal is gold no matter where the Olympics are held,” he said, adding, ”The Grand Palais where the Olympic Games will be held is meaningful because it is the place where Coach Won Woo-young reached the top of the world championships, so I will definitely win a gold medal.” 토토사이트 순위