Asian Games Like father, like daughter
Gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong, left, and her father, former gymnast Yeo Hong-chul, attend a press conference for the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games medalists in Jakarta, Indonesia, in this file photo from July 25, 2018. Yonhap
Yeo Seo-jeong follows in father's footsteps to 2nd Asian Games gold
When gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong won the Asian Games vault gold on Thursday, the medal added a second chapter to a family record in Korean gymnastics, putting her alongside her father, Yeo Hong-chul, as two-time Asian Games champions.
The 24-year-old reclaimed the Asian Games women’s vault title on Thursday, eight years after winning gold on her debut, returning to the top after injuries disrupted her bid for a second consecutive Olympic medal.
The gymnast scored 14.483 points in the final at Nagoya General Gymnasium, finishing ahead of defending champion An Chang-ok of North Korea, who took silver with 13.666. The victory delivered South Korea’s first gymnastics medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
“I'm happy and moved to have won the gold medal eight years later after preparing so hard,” Yeo Seo-jeong said after the final.
The gold gave Yeo her second Asian Games vault title, following her triumph at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in 2018 when she was 16. She is the first South Korean woman to win two Asian Games gold medals in artistic gymnastics.
For Yeo Seo-jeong, the victory also brought her alongside her father Yeo Hong-chul, a former vault specialist who won consecutive Asian Games men's vault titles in 1994 and 1998.
Yeo Seo-jung performs during the women's vault final in artistic gymnastics at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Nagoya General Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, Thursday. Yonhap
Her father also won South Korea’s first Olympic silver medal in gymnastics with vault silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games, while Yeo Seo-jeong won vault bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to become the first South Korean woman artistic gymnast to win an Olympic medal.
“Now I can stand alongside my father,” she said. “I’m so pleased that I’m walking on the same path with my father.”
The latest title was especially meaningful for Yeo Seo-jeong after a difficult two years marked by injuries and rehabilitation.
Yeo injured her shoulder at the 2024 Paris Olympics and later underwent surgery after suffering an Achilles tendon injury. She returned to international competition this year and won the vault at the Asian Championships in June before adding the Asian Games title.
“I had two injuries over the past two years, and it was very difficult,” she said. “I feel like I was fully rewarded for all of that.”
Yeo entered the final as the top qualifier but opted against her signature 5.8-difficulty vault, choosing a lower-difficulty routine to reduce the risk of mistakes.
North Korea's An Chang-ok took silver after falling on her second vault, while China's Du Siyu won bronze with a score of 13.450.