Korea’s Freestyle Queen: Seo Jung-hwa
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are exactly one month away. Over the last four years, several Korean winter sport athletes have poured a tremendous amount of effort into preparing themselves to shine on the world’s stage when representing their country. The Korea Times will point the spotlight at Korea’s Winter Sports athletes every Tuesday and Saturday until the Winter Olympics begin. Today, the Korea Times speaks with freestyle skier Seo Jung-hwa.
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
When the 2010 Winter Olympics start next month, Korean sports fans will be hotly anticipating the short-track speed skating events, as well as Kim Yu-na in the women's figure skating competition.
While they won't get the same attention, Korean athletes participating in several other winter sports could make a big impression.
One of those is 19-year-old freestyle skier Seo Jung-hwa, who could catch the eyes of fans here in February after she qualified for the Olympics with a 15th-place finish at the 2009 World Championship.
But getting this far hasn't been easy for the young skier. With determination, hard work and the support of her family, Seo has soared into the top ranks of the sport, overcoming a serious lack of funding and support from the national team, while also excelling academically.
From Family of Mogul Meisters
Seo started skiing when she was just four-years-old and first stared at a mogul course with her uncle at the Sungwoo Resort when she was 14.
``I became really interested in mogul skiing because my uncle really enjoyed it,'' Seo told The Korea Times. ``My uncle had started a mogul skiing club and I became a member. And that's how I learned. I didn't learn from a professional coach until I met Yasushi Ikeda,'' Seo said.
``In January 2006, a mogul competition was held in Phoenix Park and Ikeda was there with his Japanese junior mogul ski team. I was taking part in one of the exhibition events, which were not part of the competition and were held before the competition started.
``He saw me ski and was really interested. He suggested that I begin training for freestyle skiing seriously and offered to teach me for free,'' she said.
With the freestyle World Cup being held at Jisan Resort in Korea later that year, Seo accepted the offer.
``One week later I moved to Japan to join Team Listel, which was managed by Ikeda. After training, I competed in the World Cup for the first time ever. It was just such a good experience for me,'' said the only Korean to qualify for the Olympics in freestyle skiing.
Success on Snow and in Classroom
Seo is of a rare breed in high-level sports in Korea, as an athlete who excels both on the slopes and in academics.
The teenager studied hard and earned admission to the University of Southern California (USC). For Seo, both mogul skiing and her studies were of equal importance and she didn't want to have to sacrifice one for the other.
When Seo was a freshman in high school, she was named to the national team, a commitment which would require her to attend a four-month training camp each year. Concerned about this affecting her schooling, Seo and her father asked the coach if the training could be scheduled during vacation time ― a request the coach refused.
Because of this, the ambitious young skier had to give up competing with the Taegeukgi on her jacket during the 2006 to 2008 seasons, instead taking part in the World Cup as an individual, without the support of the national team.
``To be honest, I just didn't want to give up my studies. It doesn't mean I wasn't eager to practice skiing,'' she said.
The Korean government had created its ``Elite Sports'' program, aimed to develop international-caliber athletes at an early age. Most of the students in the program don't take academic courses, instead spending all their time training. But this was not the route that Seo wanted to take.
``I knew it was hard to make a living in Korea as an athlete because they don't usually make a lot of money. And most of all, I didn't want to give up studying or skiing. And refusing the national team's offer didn't mean I couldn't ski, which I really love.''
When Seo qualified for the Olympics without any help from the national team, the program came back to support her and finally figured out a training regimen that fitted her schedule.
Seo was shooting up the ranks of the sport, placing 15th at the FIS Freestyle World Championships in Inawashiro in March 2009. More impressively, Seo knocked off Torino Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Heil of Canada in the round of 16 in the dual moguls competition.
``Fortunately for my daughter, the new freestyle coach really cooperated with us and scheduled training only during vacation time, so she could join the team,'' her father, Seo Won-moon said.
``When she entered high school, I ordered her not to focus only on skiing but to study for her future. That didn't mean she had to give up skiing. Instead, my daughter studied really hard because she could never use skiing as an excuse for poor grades. And her academic scores improved,'' he said.
It wasn't until she was in the third grade in high school ― the most important for young Korean students who aspire to go to university ― that she joined the national team.
``At that time, I practiced for three months over vacation and one month during the semester,'' she said. ``In 2009, I practiced early in the morning at Jisan Resort and took classes in the afternoon. Everyday my mom drove me from the training camp to my school,'' she said, adding that the trip was around 77 kilometers.
``It didn't seem like it was hard at the time, because I really like skiing a lot. But when I think back, it was one of the toughest periods of my life. The reason is because I had so much to do in order to get into a good university.''
Getting by With Help From Dad
If Seo enjoys a breakthrough performance in Vancouver, she will have done so with very little financial support from anyone besides her father ― even though she is a member of the national team, she receives only 15 million won a year from the Korea Olympic Committee (KOC).
Other than that, it's her father who shoulders the burden.
``That really is the hardest part of being a freestyle athlete,'' said Seo, referring to money difficulties.
``We need at least 40 or 50 million won per year to compete,'' her father, who owns a manufacturing company, commented. ``If we were to hire a coach, we'd need at least 200 million won ― 100 million for the salary and another 100 million for expenses.''
``Now that Jung-hwa is going to USC, it's been really tough to cover her tuition and pay for skiing,'' he added, ``Especially since the world economic crisis hit.''
Seo said she may try to ease the burden on her father by returning to Korea to study after the Olympics, instead of attending the American university because of the higher tuition costs.
``Our family had a discussion, and we have to choose either USC or skiing.''
Because freestyle skiing is not a very popular sport here, the KOC does not provide much support, but she has received some help from Ikeda, who she trained with in Japan and Canada last year.
``He has helped us a lot. He asks for very little money, an amount which is less than the minimum cost of living in Japan. But we can't even afford that, so we finished training with him in June after about four months.''
After becoming a freestyle skier in 2006, she trained with Ikeda for two months each year. Only in 2009 did she bump it up to four months.
Seo's financial difficulties definitely had an impact on her scores at competitions. When she goes to events, she goes by herself and stays in cheaper accommodation that is far away from the slopes. Her father also believes that because she was competing as an individual, not on a national team, that judges gave her lower scores than she deserved.
``I believe that is the case, and Ikeda told me it was true, as well, he said. ``She sometimes was considered just a skier who likes mogul skiing, not a serious athlete.''
``During the Olympics, my daughter will be a member of the Korea team and will get the support of the country, which will be a good thing.''
Until now, her only real supporters have been her family.
Seo clearly comes from a family of skiing fanatics. Her younger brother, Seo Myung-jun, is also a member of the national freestyle ski team, and has an outside chance of qualifying for the Olympics as well. And her biggest supporters are her family, including her uncle.
Korea's Olympic Freestyle Skier
Seo believes that her biggest weakness is her jumps ― not surprising given there are no regular mogul runs with proper jumps at any ski resort in Korea. When she's at home, she practices her posture and technique on a trampoline.
But after a recent World Cup event, she has gained new confidence.
``I earned pretty good scores on my jumps at the second competition in Finland in December. But I wasn't satisfied with my total score because I lost points on the turns,'' she said.
``I'm most confident in my turning ability, so that's fine. I got a lot of confidence from the tournament.''
Seo is eagerly anticipating her first taste of the Olympics.
``It is a really honor for me to represent Korea. It is a really good chance to make Korean mogul skiing known to the world.
``Obviously, it's much bigger than anything else, but I will treat this competition like any other, although I will prepare more.
``I will really, really do my best.''