‘The Avengers’ Kim Jong-hwan: “Sang-wook, who let me off the hook, take your chance at a double!”

‘The youngest ace’ was one of the nicknames of fencing star Oh Sang-wook (27, Daejeon Metropolitan Government), who won the first gold medal for South Korea at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The men’s sabre team was led by Oh, along with Koo Bon-gil (35), Kim Jung-hwan (40-Korea Sports Promotion Organization), and Kim Jun-ho (30-Hwaseong City Hall), who won team gold medals at Tokyo 2021, Jakarta 2018, Palembang, and last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou. They have also won multiple team titles at the World Championships.

All four fencers are nicknamed “The Avengers,” a combination of fencing and the superhero movie “The Avengers,” with Oh Sang-wook being the youngest and most skilled of the four, and has been dubbed “the youngest ace.

After becoming the first Korean male sabre player to win an individual gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Oh Sang-wook revealed that Kim Jong-hwan and Kim Jun-ho reminded him of them as they retired from the national team and younger players joined them.

In particular, Kim Jung-hwan, the eldest brother of the original “Avengers,” is 13 years older than Oh Sang-wook and has served as a de facto “mentor” to him.

Kim, who was Korea’s best-ever individual Olympic men’s sabre result before Oh, with back-to-back bronze medals in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, traveled to Paris with Kim as a KBS commentator to watch his mentor rise to the top of the world.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Kim congratulated Sang-wook, calling it a “long-awaited gold medal.”

“As a senior who has been in the national team much longer than Sang-wook, there were times when I thought, ‘Can we win an individual gold medal?’ Many athletes, including myself and Koo Bon-gil, tried but didn’t come out, so I was thinking, ‘Should I be satisfied with a bronze medal,’ but Sang-wook freed me from that frustration, and I’m very grateful to him,” he said.

“It wouldn’t have been strange if he had won the individual gold medal in Tokyo, but he came to this point through pain and heartache,” he said, adding, ”Those things passed through me like a beacon, and I was moved.”

Kim Jung-hwan, who has known Oh since they were “roommates” when he was first called up to the national team, describes him as “a strong friend who is eager to learn, not afraid to put in a lot of time to do so, and who does it silently.

“Sang-wook is walking a different fencing life than me. I was a ‘late bloomer,’ and he’s been on a solid path since he was young,” he said, adding, ‘Despite the age gap, I think my younger brothers have helped me stay in the sport to a much older age than I deserve.’ He also thanked Oh and his teammates.

When asked what it was like to be a commentator at the Olympics, he said, “There were no spectators at Tokyo, which was my last Olympics. When I came here, I felt adrenaline and envy for the athletes, saying, ‘This is what the Olympics is all about,’” said Kim, who will be on hand to cheer on the juniors as they attempt to win their third straight team title.

If South Korea can win a third straight men’s sabre team title, Oh Sang-wook will become the first Korean fencer to win two Olympic titles.

“I don’t have a problem with the team event,” Kim said encouragingly.

He added a heartfelt message, “Sang-wook, you don’t get two chances in life, you have to seize them when they come.”


“The U.S. has been strong this season,” he said, ”but at the Olympics, you can’t assume everything. There were many upsets in the individual competition,” he said, adding, ”Do your best in the given situation and enjoy the game beautifully, and the results will follow.” 온라인카지노사이트

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