From hobby to national ski team
Sister and brother determined to overcome barriers
By Yoon Chul
With less than a week before the Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan, national team members are ready to put forth huge efforts to win medals.
Among them are a unique brother-sister pair, Seo Myung-joon and Seo Jung-hwa, both belonging to the freestyle ski team.
Jung-hwa, who was also part of the national squad for the Vancouver Olympics, is a student. Myung-joon — two years younger than his sister — is making his debut on the international stage.
“This is my first big event in the spotlight. So I’ve prepared a lot to give my best performance,” Myung-joon told The Korea Times, Monday.
The 20-year-old sister is also excited to compete on the international stage with her younger brother. “As freestyle is not very popular in Korea, I didn’t have a big crew with me at the last Olympics. But now I have my brother. This makes me feel I have a lot of support and I am much more comfortable,” Jung-hwa said.
The siblings have a unique background. Most Korean athletes work to join the national team from childhood. When youngsters show talent, they dedicate themselves to becoming professional athletes, often dropping their studies and training hard.
But the Seo’s progress has been quite different.
Jung-hwa and Myung-joon started skiing when they were four and turned to freestyle when they turned 11 and nine, respectively, joining a club managed by their uncle.
They preferred studying to pursuing high-level competition. “Because I enjoy skiing so much, I can continue my career as an athlete,” said Myung-joon, who will start majoring in kinesiology at Seoul National University as a freshman.
“We had fun skiing when we were children. After other athletes began commenting on our talent, we were much more interested in skiing,” Jung-hwa said.
“Now I’d like to see better results in competition. That spurs me to put in more effort, even if the circumstances for training are not perfect.
“Enjoyment is my driving force. If I had concentrated my efforts only on a career as a freestyle athlete I could never have generated my current results,” added the athlete, who entered the 2010 Winter Games thanks to her result in the Freestyle World Cup.
Myung-joon agreed with his sister.
“If I don’t go skiing for more than a day, I really long for it. Whenever I stand on the slope — that’s the happiest moment for me,” he added.
They often talk about their sport to help each other improve.
“We watch videos of us and other athletes to analyze them. There’s no one to talk with seriously about freestyle in Korea except us,” Jung-hwa said with a smile.
Though they are brother and sister their training style is different.
“When I train I want to take it seriously, but Myung-joon does not. He often tries to joke around with me in practice,” Jung-hwa said.
“When she starts focusing on practice she really concentrates, a characteristic which I think I need to learn from her,” added Myung-joon.
During training they also exchange advice.
While Myung-joon is good at jumping, Jung-hwa has mastered turning, and the two learn from each other. In fact, Myung-joon learned much of what he knows from his sister.
“My sister makes full use of official practice time before starting the event. And then she usually gives a solid performance,” Myung-joon said.
In the freestyle event, the organizing association usually gives three days of practice on the scheduled course.
‘We want to train with a full-time coach’
Unfortunately, the national freestyle skiers don’t have their own coach due to a lack of funds. According to the Seo family, they need 150 million won for a coach and each athlete also needs about 100 million won a year.
The Korea Ski Association (KSA) wants to support them but has yet to secure enough money.
They only get $1,500 a month from the government.
Due to these difficulties, they usually train for only two months — one month each in summer and in winter. Because of these unfavorable circumstances Jung-hwa could not fare well in Vancouver.
“I was not at my best. And I was unlucky. I could be the standard for future athletes,” Jung-hwa said. “In addition, I couldn’t develop an appropriate strategy for my run because I didn’t have an adequate coach.”
“During the three-day official warm-up, if I had a coach I could get feedback on my performance as other skiers did.” Jung-hwa said.
Jung-hwa said she is on the right path toward her goal.
“I have yet to produce any visible results, but I feel that I made progress after the Vancouver Olympics and I am still improving.”
“Through the Olympics I realized what I need to improve on, and I think I have managed to upgrade my jumps,” Jung-hwa said.
Besides the Winter Games in 2010, she already mentioned that her goal is the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 and the Games in 2018, for which PyeongChang of Korea, Munich of Germany and Annecy of France are bidding.
If PyeongChang wins, a lot of funds will be earmarked for winter sports and freestyle will gain better support, they believe.
The gap between the two Seos and world-class skiers is still big but Korea seems to believe it can narrow the gap.
Jung-hwa has a best finish of 12th in the World Cup in Jan. 2010 while Myung-joon finished 25th in the World Championships in 2009.
But Jung-hwa acknowledges she has still a long way to become world class.
“After I have a full training session as world class skiers do every year, then I want to figure out the gap between me and them,” Jung-hwa said.
The world class skiers train all year round. During the summer season they practice jumps using swimming pools and then directly apply newly acquired skills on the slopes. And then they compete in the World Cup.
The two Koreans are very eager to continue their training.
After the Vancouver Olympics, Jung-hwa injured her knee in March, which took one month for rehabilitation. Before this upcoming Winter Asian Games the siblings had one month of training with a coach during winter but they failed to do so in the summer.
The two Koreans are positive on their prospects for a medal at the Asian Games.
“If I perform at 100 percent, I may snatch the gold medal,” Jung-hwa said.
“I am also aiming for gold in the Asian Games like my sister,” added Myung-joon.
Among the participating countries Japan and host country Kazakhstan are the strongest contenders, each sending three athletes for the freestyle event.
“But the first goal for me is to show everyone that I can perform,” Jung-hwa said.
They have many dreams.
Jung-hwa, who is studying at the University of Southern California (USC), wants to work at the IOC or go to law school. Myung-joon has his eye on studying sports marketing.
The two freestyle skiers are proving that athletes can reach the national level while studying hard as well.
As the freestyle event is tough to succeed in for Asians, their participation will serve as role models for future Korean athletes. And the upcoming Winter Asian Games could be the stage for Jung-hwa and Myung-joon to take another big step forward.
What is freestyle skiing?
Freestyle skiing can be divided into four specific events — aerial skiing, mogul skiing, ski ballet and ski cross.
Seo Jung-hwa and Seo Myung-joon compete in mogul skiing.
Freestyle skiing features a bumpy slope with two big hills to use for jumps.
The skier should negotiate the large number of bumps and make two jumps.
The judges check three areas — turns, speed and jumps.
The quality of the turns makes up the largest portion of scoring at 50 percent, with speed and jumps accounting for 25 percent each.
During the jumps skiers execute tricks by twisting and spinning as snowboarders do in the half pipe event.
The skiers score is judged by the height, form, spontaneity, distance and landing and multiplied by the degree of difficulty of the jumps.
In order to practice their jumps, mogulskiers practice in swimming pools in the summer.
The two Seos usually make about 50 jumps per a day during a training session for that area.
There are only a few mogul courses in Korea and just one pool with the facilities to train at in summer.
There are also no big hills that allow them to practice their jumps.