Park Tae-hwan Wins Best Amateur Award
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Park Tae-hwan has won the grand prize at the Coca Cola athletic awards.
In a ceremony held in Seoul, Tuesday, the 19-year-old swimmer, who won a gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics last year, was given the Most Valuable Player (MVP) honor, awarded to South Korea's top amateur athlete.
Park, who attends Dankook University, brought home the nation's first swimming gold medal in Olympic history.
He also finished second in the 200-meter freestyle behind American Michael Phelps, who captured a record eight golds.
The award is his second achievement at the awards after he shared the trophy with figure skater Kim Yu-na two years ago.
Judoka Choi Min-ho, who won a gold medal in the men's 60 kilograms in Beijing, and Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae, the Olympic badminton champions in the mixed doubles, received the runner-up prizes.
The women's handball squad was honored with the best team award, while the rookie trophies went to Sa Jae-hyuk and Lim Su-jeong.
Weightlifter Sa finished first in the men's 77-kilogram class at the Summer Games and Lim is a taekwondo gold medallist in the women's 57 kilograms.
The award, founded in 1995, is the only prize presented to South Korean amateur athletes and has played a role in finding and supporting competitive young players.