Olympic baseball champion donates 2008 gold medal to Hall of Fame
Chong Tae-hyon, left, Samsung Lions bench coach and former Korean national baseball team pitcher, poses with Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Commissioner Heo Koo-youn as he donates his 2008 Olympic gold medal and 2000 Olympic bronze medal to the KBO for display at the Korean Baseball Hall of Fame, at the KBO headquarters in Seoul, April 14. Courtesy of the KBO
Former Korean national baseball team pitcher Chong Tae-hyon, who notched the title-clinching save at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, has donated his gold medal to the Korean Baseball Hall of Fame set to open next year.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Chong, currently bench coach for the Samsung Lions, visited its office in Seoul on Monday and also donated his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he was the only amateur player on the national team filled with KBO stars.
Chong's shining international moment came in the gold medal game of the 2008 Olympics against Cuba. With Korea nursing a 3-2 lead with one out and the bases loaded, Chong got Yuli Gurriel to bounce into the game-ending, 6-4-3 double play. It capped a perfect 9-0 run to the gold medal for Korea.
At the Sydney Games, Chong, a submarine pitcher, pitched to a 1.35 ERA in 13 1/3 innings to help Korea earn its first Olympic medal in baseball.
The KBO said the two medals will be on display once the Hall of Fame opens in December 2026 in the eastern city of Busan.