Yeo Seo-jeong's shot, Shin Jae-hwan receives the ball... Today, challenging a 'golden landing' on the pommel horse

On the 2nd, Shin Jae-hwan, representing South Korea, competes in the men's artistic gymnastics vault final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Thanks to the strong performance of Yeo Seo-jeong (19, Suwon City Hall), South Korea secured a bronze medal in artistic gymnastics. Today (the 2nd), the men's star Shin Jae-hwan (23, Jecheon City Hall) will go after a medal. He will compete in the men's vault final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo at around 6:51 PM. Among the eight competitors, he will perform sixth. Shin Jae-hwan advanced to the final ranked first overall with an average score of 14.866 from his two vault attempts in the qualifiers on the 24th of last month.

If Shin Jae-hwan wins a medal, South Korea’s men’s vault legacy at the Olympics will continue. South Korea won a silver medal through Yeo Hong-chul at the 1996 Atlanta Games and a gold medal through Yang Hak-seon at the 2012 London Games. Since then, no medals have been won for nine years.

Shin Jae-hwan is more than capable of following in the footsteps of Yeo Hong-chul and Yang Hak-seon. In this final, he will perform the ‘Yonekura’ with a difficulty score of 6.0 and the ‘Yeo 2’ with a difficulty score of 5.6. The ‘Yeo 2’ is a skill named after Yeo Hong-chul, who created it in 1994. It involves running quickly, placing both hands on the vaulting table, then launching into the air and twisting two and a half times (900 degrees) before landing. Shin Jae-hwan showcased the ‘Yeo 2’ in the qualifiers, earning a score of 14.633. Vault scores are evaluated by combining the difficulty score and execution score.

Shin Jae-hwan began gymnastics at the age of eleven and nurtured his dream by watching Yang Hak-seon. He said, "I watched a lot of videos of his performances," and added, "Training together on the national team, I always wanted to compete at the Olympics with him, and now that has come true." Yang Hak-seon narrowly missed qualifying for the final, placing ninth in the qualifiers. As the first reserve, he could compete if a finalist withdraws, but the chances are slim. Yang Hak-seon is considering retirement, putting aside his disappointment.

The ‘secret weapon’ Shin Jae-hwan earned his Tokyo Olympic ticket through individual qualification. Despite the limited number of international competitions due to COVID-19, he diligently participated in events and accumulated ranking points. On June 27, at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup, he rose to world number one in vault rankings, securing his Olympic spot. Although the ranking was affected by the absence of traditional powerhouses like the USA, China, and Japan?who had already qualified through team events?there is no doubt that Shin Jae-hwan’s skills are world-class.

Meanwhile, the day before, Yeo Seo-jeong won the bronze medal in the women’s vault final with an average score of 14.733 from two attempts. This is South Korea’s first Olympic medal in women’s gymnastics. Yeo Seo-jeong and her father, Yeo Hong-chul?the first Korean gymnastics medalist?also made history as the ‘first Korean father-daughter medalists.’