Adieu, Fencing Avengers… Kim Jun-ho Puts Down the Taegeuk Symbol and Takes his First Steps as a Leader
Tokyo Olympics, Hangzhou AG gold medalist… “Now it’s time to spend time with my family.”
The word ‘appengers’ is used in Korean fencing.
It is a combination of fencing and the popular hero movie The Avengers, and refers to Kim Jeong-hwan, Koo Bon-gil (National Sports Promotion Foundation), Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), and Kim Jun-ho (Hwaseong City Hall).
This nickname was given to the four athletes after winning the gold medal in the men's fencing saber team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.
The presence of the four players was particularly highlighted as they were both outstanding in both skill and appearance, and consistently achieved results in international competitions. 카지노사이트원
In fact, the sum of the four was the highest in the world.
The Appengers, who won the team event at the 2022 Cairo World Championships, showed off their skills by winning a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games held in September and October last year.
But now I can't see the Appengers again.
This is because Kim Jun-ho retired from the national team.
On the 24th, Kim Jun-ho officially announced his retirement through his agency, saying that he would no longer represent the national team.
In an interview with Yonhap News on the 25th, Kim Jun-ho said, “He was unable to properly spend time with his family while playing for the national team. He
had originally planned to retire from the national team after the Asian Games.”
He explained, “Of course, there is the Paris Olympics this year.
But if I can't stop now and work hard until the Paris Olympics, my retirement will continue to be postponed, so I made up my mind and made a decision this time.”
It is too early for Kim Jun-ho, born in 1994, to step down from the national team based on his skills.
Last June, he won a gold medal as a member of the Appengers in the saber team event at the Asian Championships held in Wuxi, China, and a silver medal in the individual event.
The world ranking of the men's saber event in the 2022-2023 season was 12th, the highest among Korean players.
Kim Jun-ho participated in the men's saber individual event at the national championship and national team selection event held from the 16th to the 21st and stood at the top.
Nevertheless, Kim Jun-ho believed that now was the right time to relinquish his national team qualification.
He said, “Personally, I had a difficult time recently due to an injury,” and “Among the four, I was the first to get married and the first to have a child. Considering all these
factors, I had no choice but to choose to retire from the national team. “He said.
Now that his national team career is over, Kim Jun-ho starts anew as a coach.
He obtained a playing coach qualification from Hwaseong City Hall and attempted to transform himself into a leader while continuing his career as a player.
Kim Jun-ho expressed his aspirations, saying, “Since each player has different characteristics, I want to become a leader who provides customized training. I want to become a leader who brings out the players’ strengths as much as possible.”
Kim Jun-ho repeatedly emphasized that he had “no regrets,” but when he mentioned the situation of leaving his Appengers colleagues with whom he had gone through hardships and hardships, he revealed his hidden regret.
Kim Jun-ho encouraged Koo Bon-gil, Kim Jeong-hwan, and Oh Sang-wook, who must continue to compete as national representatives, saying, “My colleagues already knew about my situation.
They all support me.”
Kim Jun-ho said, “Everyone is sensitive right now.
I know this because I played a lot in team competitions, but in times like this, we need to communicate more with each other.”
He added, “The players all have different tendencies.
So I often talked to my brothers (Bon-geun Koo and Jung-hwan Kim), and ( “Oh) I think I had the role of talking more to Sang-wook,” he said.
He then smiled and said, “It seems like there aren’t enough people to fill that role now.
