Rio 2016: S. Korean supermom athletes do the heavy lifting
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South Korean handball team goalkeeper Oh Young-ran takes a break during a Group B match against the Netherlands at the Olympics on Thursday. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Working moms live a double life ― pursuing careers while taking care of their families and all the domestic chores that go with it. And there are plenty of working moms around the world who are worthy of praise for their efforts in feeding the family and keeping the household running.
But there are three special South Korean mothers who are devoted to their families and also to raising the country’s sports reputation at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. They may not trade winning medals for nothing, but the glory would not compare to the joy of meeting their children and husbands back home.
“The hardest part was to train away from my children,” South Korean weightlifter Yoon Jin-hee said after winning a bronze medal in the women’s 53kg category, Monday. “It is a motherly love.”
South Korean weightlifter Yoon Jin-hee, top, competes at the Olympics on Monday as her two daughters and family members-in-law cheer for her in Wonju, Gangwon Province. / Yonhap
Before coming to Rio, Yoon left her two daughters, aged two and four, with her parents in South Korea because her husband, Won Jeong-sik, is also a weightlifter in the Olympics. Yoon, a silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, retired in 2012 and was a full-time housewife until this year, when she started hoisting weights to encourage her injured husband.
Nam Hyun-hee, South Korea’s longest-serving national fencer ― whose Games debut was the 2004 Athens Olympics ― has a daughter, 3. After the 2012 London Games, she lived the life as a mother of a baby. About two years before the Rio Olympics, she began to chisel her muscles and wield swords, raising her international rank in global competitions.
Nam Hyun-hee, top, is married to cyclist Gong Ho-suk, bottom center, and has a daughter. / Courtesy of Yonhap, Naver blog
“I thought about my mother and daughter before the game,” Nam, 33, recounted after losing to Japan’s Shiho Nishioka in the round of 32, Wednesday. “But I stopped thinking about my mother because it made me want to emotionally depend on her. I instead focused on my daughter, because that pushed me to becoming mentally stronger. She has already selected five spots that she wants to go with me. As soon as I return to South Korea, I will play with her.”
Veteran handball team goalkeeper Oh Young-ran is a mother of two, aged seven and 11. At 44, Oh is the oldest among the South Korean delegation at the Rio Games. She proved her agility Thursday ― honed through five Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta ― by blocking a Netherland’s ball, miraculously keeping the Group B match tied 32-32.
“We are struggling but it’s OK,” said Oh, whose team must win games against France and Argentina to advance to the round of eight. “We have trained for this moment. I want to do well and go to the round of eight fast.”