Outside of Woo in the HJ, they've really fallen off, especially in the distance events.
Outside of Woo in the HJ, they've really fallen off, especially in the distance events.
I guess losing 1.5 years to mandatory conscription doesn't help.
Remember, you basically have to be an Asian Games gold medalist at the minimum to get exempted.
as someone who has trained and lived in korea for a majority of my life, here's why
korean athlete development is simply garbage. those who have athletic potential essentially ditch everything to succeed at a young age (<10 years old) - they are placed into special schools where all you do is train, with the bare minimum of studying in order to function. they have middle school kids do doubles, high schoolers push 100 miles a week, etc. by the time they get into their athletic primes, theyre completely burned out. they get injured, they lose their taste for their sport, etc. and their bodies simply cant keep up. so they slow down, and never reach any success on the international stage.
Korea has a non-existent club system the athlete development ends when school does. The only athletics clubs in Korea are recreational running clubs mainly based in Seoul.
It's a shame because Korea absolutely has the potential to be competitive and has some of the best track infrastructure. There's full stadiums with tracks open to the public for free use in some towns/cities.
Sharkman wrote:
Outside of Woo in the HJ, they've really fallen off, especially in the distance events.
K-Pop
Thanks to the Kims up North wrote:
I guess losing 1.5 years to mandatory conscription doesn't help.
Yeah, because ROK soldiers TOTALLY just sit around and don't PT AT ALL! Yup! NO RUNNING THERE! I D I O T!
korean wrote:
as someone who has trained and lived in korea for a majority of my life, here's why
korean athlete development is simply garbage. those who have athletic potential essentially ditch everything to succeed at a young age (<10 years old) - they are placed into special schools where all you do is train, with the bare minimum of studying in order to function. they have middle school kids do doubles, high schoolers push 100 miles a week, etc. by the time they get into their athletic primes, theyre completely burned out. they get injured, they lose their taste for their sport, etc. and their bodies simply cant keep up. so they slow down, and never reach any success on the international stage.
Yep, it's this^
Additionally the academic culture of Korea, almost certainly the most stringent and difficult in the world, makes training for athletics at key ages literally impossible.
Japan shows that it is possible to have serious academics and athletics mix, but until there is a serious shift in culture Korean athletics will stay exactly where they are.