Badminton gold medalist calls for overhaul of nat'l team system
An Se-young of South Korea, center, celebrates after beating He Bingjiao of China for the gold medal in the women's singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics at Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 5. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Soon after celebrating her first Olympic gold medal Monday afternoon in Paris, South Korean badminton star An Se-young took an unusual step of criticizing her national team.
In media interviews at Porte de La Chapelle Arena, An had pointed to the national team staff's poor management of her knee injury, which she had sustained during the Asian Games in October last year. She said the team didn't take her injury as seriously as it should have, with an early misdiagnosis forcing her to play through pain for weeks. It was later determined that she would need more time to heal than originally thought. An went as far as saying she found it "difficult" to go on with the national team. Though she later clarified on social media that she wasn't retiring from international competition, sources close to the player asserted that An had threatened to retire and withdraw from the Olympics as recently as May.
In a phone conversation with Yonhap News Agency Monday evening, An explained that problems with the national team program run deeper.
"I just hope that the national team will develop players more systematically," the 22-year-old said.
She said she had been disenchanted with the national team system since she first made the squad in 2018.
"My anger has been the fuel that has helped me realize my dream," An said. "I wanted to have my voice heard. In a way, that has been my dream."
Specifically, An said singles players like herself have to be managed differently than doubles players.
"Singles and doubles are clearly different and we have to train in different systems," An said. "There have to be different sets of coaches and training programs have to be different, too. Singles players all have unique styles, but the national team tries to steer them all in the same direction."
An said the national team operations have revolved around the doubles because doubles players have been traditionally more successful than singles players at international events.
"When it comes to treatment and training, doubles players have had the priority," An said, adding that she would have preferred to have her personal trainer like some of her rivals from overseas.
An also claimed that the national team has been sticking with archaic and inefficient training programs.
An Se-young of South Korea celebrates after beating He Bingjiao of China for the gold medal in the women's singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics at Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris, Aug. 5. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
"The weightlifting program is the same 365 days a year, and skills training hasn't changed for years," An said. "They either have to make sure players don't get hurt training, or give them proper treatment if players do get hurt. But players suffer injuries and don't get to play in matches."
An also accused the Badminton Korea Association of making unilateral decisions without consulting with players.
"Once, I couldn't play at tournaments in France and Denmark against my will, and no one gave me any explanation," An said. "The association just removed me from the lineup without any communication.
"It is not an environment conducive to asking questions," she continued. "I never had a chance to ask anything once the tournaments were over. There wasn't even a meeting."
An then added, "I hope people at the association and the national Olympic committee will take responsibility for these problems, instead of avoiding them." (Yonhap)