SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s Olympic committee is pushing to ship a whole bunch of athletes to a navy coaching middle to boost their psychological toughness for the Paris Olympics, a transfer that’s been criticized as outdated and regressive.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee suggested home associations final week to ship athletes to the Korea Marine Corps camp within the southeastern port metropolis of Pohang for 3 days of coaching this month, based on some associations.
About 320 athletes, together with girls, are anticipated on the boot camp, committee officers stated on Thursday. Sports associations have beforehand requested their athletes to take marine-style coaching forward of massive sports activities occasions nevertheless it’s the primary time the Olympic committee has advisable it, committee officers added.
Those officers reportedly selected the camp following the Asian Games in China in October, when South Korea completed third within the gold medal rely to China and Japan.
After the Asian Games, Olympic committee head Lee Kee-Heung floated the concept of marine camp coaching and stated athletes could be joined by prime committee officers together with himself, based on South Korean media studies.
Messages slamming and deriding the Olympic committee plan flooded South Korean social media and websites.
“Are we still under the period of military rules?” learn a message on X, previously often known as Twitter. Another X person stated “they can just select marines with strong mental power as Olympic athletes,” whereas others known as the Olympic committee’s plan “a comedy” or “out of mind.”
Details of the Dec. 18-20 camp in Pohang are nonetheless underneath dialogue between the Olympic committee and the Korea Marine Corps. But earlier pre-Olympic marine camp coaching involving fencers, wrestlers and handballers included rappelling programs, and carrying 140-kilogram (310-pound) inflatable boats on their heads collectively.
Reached by The Associated Press, South Korea’s wrestling and breakdancing associations stated they gained’t ship their athletes to the marine camp as a result of they’ve competitions when the coaching is scheduled.
Yukyoum Kim, a bodily training professor at Seoul National University, stated athletes can nonetheless study one thing from marine coaching. The packages had been developed not solely by marine officers but additionally sports activities administration and drugs professionals, Kim added.
“It is crucial to help the athletes overcome small and big hardships for their personal and teams’ growths,” Kim stated. “Although it has involved forceful group camps and violence in the past, marine boot camp has played a rather effective role to achieve those goals.”
Big firms and faculties have additionally despatched staff and college students to the marine camp and different military-run trainings.
South Korea has risen from conflict, poverty and navy dictatorships to a cultural and financial powerhouse with a vibrant democracy. But many in South Korea nonetheless hyperlink successes in large sports activities occasions just like the Olympics to nationwide delight, and issues associated to coaching tradition have typically been ignored so long as athletes succeeded.
Male athletes are exempted from 18-21 months of necessary navy service in the event that they win gold medals at Asian Games and any medals on the Olympics.
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Associated Press author Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this report.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
