A tribute to the few North Koreans who have surfaced in world & Olympic competition.
Please feel free to fill in any holes -- I'm just filling it what I know. The North Koreans really fascinate me. I mean, it's odd enough to imagine training in a former Iron Curtain nation, without exposure to the outside world, but that was 20 years ago, and the Wall fell and many emigrated to the West. And I guess you could liken them to the Chinese, but they are so much more closed off; we know so much less about North Korea. Bart Conner mentioned in the broadcast of the 2007 Worlds that the North Korean coaches kept the girls from speaking with the press and that they did not show up at many international events because of a lack of funding. Well, no kidding, if parts of Korea suffer from famine, I wonder how they fund their gymnastics program. And I wonder if the gymnasts' motivation is for the state. (I wrote my graduate thesis on communist nations and their gymnastics programs and how the gymnasts' motivations come from the state). I wonder if Kim Jong Ill bought Hong Un Jong an apartment for her gold medal on vault at the Beijing Olympics. I think it's a shame we can't ever learn about these girls! Furthermore, what's interesting is that we seldom see the North Koreans but when we do, they are stellar. I mean, how many girls in the world can perform the Cheng vault? And Hong Un Jong did and (I'll have to look) but I think Hong Su Jong did as well at the 2007 Worlds.
The first North Korean I can remember was Kim Gwang Suk, who was famously "15 years old" for 3 years. She won the uneven bars title in 1991. I love the "Counter-Kim" a Tkatchev-front flip toward the high bar. The skill came to be known in the Code of Points as the Counter-Kim; as of the 2008 Code of Points, it was classified as a difficult 'F' element. And I really think that's it's wrong that she didn't medal in Barcelona. Personally, I think Shannon should have been left out and the bronze should have gone to Suk.
Kim Gwang Suk, 1991 Worlds UB EF
And I just found this adorable video of her at the 1990 Asian Games (if she was underage at the 1991 Worlds, no telling how old she is here). Nice handstand split and she holds it through the pirouette.
The more I look for Kim Gwang Suk videos, the more confused I get, re: her age. Here she is at the 1989 Worlds, where technically she'd need to be at least 14.
But then here she is in 1987 as a junior. By my calculations, if she was (let's says eh had a late birthday) 13 in 1989, then she was 11 in 1987. And look at this routine!
Wikipedia lists her birthday as February 15 but no given year. The "generally accepted years" are 1978 or 1979, making her 9 or 10 at during that beam routine and 13 or 14 for her World title.
And she is still alive! Here she is for the "North Korean portion" or the torch carrying for last year's Olympics.
2 comments:
it's a shame that her talent has been underscored by such a scandal. One more reason to do away with the age requirement.
Agreed -- Shannon Miller woulldn't be 'America's most decorated gymnast' had the current age rules been in effect in 1992 and Nadia would have been ineligible in 1976 and would not have scored her famous 10.'s. But I don't know about less than 14...which would still more than likely invalidate Kim Gwang Suk.
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