First Olympic Medal for South Korean Female Gymnast
Bronze Achievement by 'Yeo Seo-jeong' Applying Father's Technique
"After coming to Japan, my confidence dropped, so I exchanged many text messages with my dad."
Yeo Seo-jeong (19, Suwon City Hall), the first South Korean female gymnast to win an Olympic medal, expressed her gratitude to her father. Her father is Professor Yeo Hong-chul of Kyung Hee University. He won a silver medal in the men's vault at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Yeo Seo-jeong followed in his footsteps at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On the 1st, at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, Japan, she scored 15.333 points in the first vault and 14.133 points in the second vault in the women's vault final. With an average score of 14.733, she won the bronze medal behind Rebeca Andrade (Brazil, 15.083 points) and MyKayla Skinner (USA, 14.916 points).
The historic achievement of becoming South Korea's first father-daughter Olympic medalists was made possible thanks to "Yeo Seo-jeong," a skill adapted from her father's technique called "Yeo 2." The "Yeo 2" is a skill involving two and a half twists (900-degree rotation) in the air before landing. Yeo Seo-jeong performs half a twist less, rotating 720 degrees. It is a difficult skill for female gymnasts, so it carries a high difficulty score. Yeo Seo-jeong executed it cleanly in her first vault, making a gold medal within reach. However, in her second vault, she received a somewhat low score of 14.133, which caused her to fall behind the other two competitors in the average score.
After the competition, Yeo Seo-jeong said, "I performed so well in the first vault that I felt a lot of pressure to do well. I think that’s why I made a mistake in the second vault." She added with a bright smile, "I'm not disappointed about missing the gold medal. I am satisfied." She did not forget to express her gratitude to her father. "Even after coming to Japan, he never withheld advice and encouragement, which helped me achieve good results." She also said, "Having my dad around has been a big burden and there have been many eyes watching me, but now I want to prepare even harder and try to beat him." Professor Yeo also cheered on his proud daughter, saying, "Now, I want to be called Yeo Seo-jeong’s father."
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