Back to part-time jobs: Athletes in less popular sports face harsh realities

For athletes in less popular sports, life after the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games can be harsh. Once the competition is over, they must return to demanding jobs to make a living.

Kim Geon-myeong, 32, a member of Korea’s kabaddi team, worked as a sanitation worker while preparing for the Asian Games, squeezing in training sessions before and after work even after making the national team. He took up kabaddi at the suggestion of Lee Jang-gun, 34, a senior from his university and one of the country’s leading players. After failing to make the national team for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Kim considered his career options before taking a job as a sanitation worker for the Geumjeong District Office in Busan.

There are no professional kabaddi teams in Korea. National team members hold different jobs, making it difficult even to coordinate team training sessions. Korean kabaddi gained public attention after winning silver at the 2018 Asian Games and Lee, its most recognizable player, appeared on television variety shows. However, the sport’s infrastructure remains underdeveloped.

Now that the Games are over, Kim has returned to his daily routine. He must report to work at 6 a.m. and continue cleaning streets across Geumjeong District, responding to public complaints, collecting garbage and cracking down on illegal dumping.

Shin Ji-eun, 25, who helped Korea secure its first-ever win in beach volleyball at the Games, has also relied on part-time jobs to support her athletic career. To raise approximately 7 million won (about $4,800) in expenses for overseas competitions, she took on a variety of jobs, from working at a hamburger restaurant to helping people move.

Beach volleyball has a limited foothold in Korea, with no professional teams and a shortage of dedicated training facilities. Shin’s victory at the Games offered a glimmer of hope for the sport’s future in the country.

But she, too, must return to the realities of everyday life.

“Honestly, our future is uncertain,” Shin said. “The system is such that we cannot continue as athletes through our own determination alone. Rather than talking about how we plan to train, the question is whether we can train at all.”

Athletes in less popular sports must continue training while shouldering the burdens of making a living and securing their futures. At times, such desperation can drive them to push beyond their limits. Yet behind the title of national team member lies a reality in which these sports are sustained largely by individual athletes’ sacrifices and passion.

South Korea maintained its position among Asia’s leading sporting nations, finishing third overall at the Games, but its medal tally was its lowest in 44 years. The country also faces the challenge of reviving sports that have traditionally been reliable sources of medals while expanding the base of newer disciplines.

With the Los Angeles Olympics just two years away, Korea is at a critical juncture in reassessing the competitiveness of its sports programs and finding ways to take them to the next level.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.