Rhythmic gymnast makes national team
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Rhythmic gymnast Chun Song-e performs during the national team tryouts at the Taeneung National Training Center in northeastern Seoul on April 19. / Yonhap
By Kwon Ji-youn
With Asiad gold medalist Son Yeon-jae absent from this year’s national team tryouts with an ankle injury, it was 18-year-old Chun Song-e who was turning heads at the Taeneung National Training Center in northeastern Seoul, on April 19. Chun looked fully recovered from a slump that had sidelined her at the Incheon Asian Games last year.
“Last year was a difficult time for me,” the rhythmic gymnast told The Korea Times, Tuesday. “But I’ve been training a lot harder, which has in turn brought about good results. I made a few mistakes because it was the first competition of the season, but I’m working on those.”
The tryouts decided the athletes to take part in the upcoming Senior Asian Championships, Gwangju Universiade and World Championships. Chun, who staged acts that were more powerful and faster-paced this year, attributes her achievements to her big moves and energizing performances.
“Most people say my physique is my strength, but because it’s my body, I only see weaknesses,” she said. “I personally think I need to work on performance flow.”
Chun, standing 173 centimeters tall, began rhythmic gymnastics in second grade, when she happened upon senior rhythmic gymnasts at her school training for upcoming competitions.
“They looked so refined, so elegant and so poised,” she recalled.
Throughout her junior career, Chun had made headlines as the next Son, and so omission from the national team ahead of the Asiad last year was a bolt from the blue.
“To be honest, I blanked out when I learned I hadn’t made the team,” she said. “I couldn’t accept it. But not once did I think about giving up or quitting. I knew another chance could come.”
She continued, “Most upsetting was that I wouldn’t be able to take part in the Asiad that would take place here in Korea. I became determined to train even harder.”
But she had been physically and mentally drained by then.
“I was determined, but I was also undergoing intense training, which was debilitating,” she said. “I spent a lot of time alone, watching entertainment shows to cheer myself up. That helped a lot.”
A busy training schedule doesn’t allow her much time to attend classes, but Chun has never missed an exam. She has also begun learning Russian, she said. Russia is a rhythmic gymnastics powerhouse.
Chun’s long-term goal is to appear at both the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Games in Tokyo, and rather than follow in one particular role model’s footsteps, she’s working on taking her opponents’ strengths and making them her own.
“The way Son concentrates so wholly on her program when training inspires me,” Chun said. “I think that’s what makes the difference at international competitions,”
Chun’s next big gig will be the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) Tashkent World Cup in May.
“The media attention I’ve been receiving isn’t pressuring me per se,” she said. “I’ll be working patiently to narrow the gap between Son and myself as the competition approaches. My focus will be on making up for the mistakes I made at the national team tryouts.”