Spanish Player Wearing Black Belt with "Train Hard, Dream Big" Receives New Belt as Gift

Controversy During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Final Match

Park Sang-hoon, the Korean Ambassador to Spain, visited the Spanish Taekwondo gym where Adriana Cerezo Iglesias, the silver medalist in Taekwondo at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, trains on the 6th (local time). He gifted a black belt inscribed in Korean with the motto "Train hard, dream big." / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] "Gicha Hadeu, kkum keun."

At the women's 49kg Taekwondo final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the black belt of Adriana Cerezo Iglesias (18), the Spanish national team player who won the silver medal, had this phrase written on it. This phrase, presumed to be a translation error, became a hot topic among some netizens at the time.

Meanwhile, the Korean Embassy in Spain reportedly took direct action and gifted Cerezo a new black belt, drawing attention.

On the 6th (local time), the Korean Embassy visited the Taekwondo gym where Cerezo trains and presented her with a new belt. This black belt is engraved in Korean with the phrase "훈련은 열심히, 꿈은 크게!" ("Train hard, dream big!"). Along with this, domestic cosmetics, masks, and albums from Korean idol groups BTS and BLACKPINK were also given as gifts.

Regarding this, Park Sanghoon, the Korean Ambassador to Spain, said that Cerezo is nicknamed the "Amazing Girl" locally and expressed hope that she will continue to grow as an amazing athlete and a good friend of Korea.

A Cerezo player’s post on their Instagram / Photo by Instagram capture

Cerezo had previously become a topic of discussion in Korea due to the black belt with nonsensical Korean writing. The phrase "Gicha Hadeu, kkum keun" sparked debates among Korean netizens trying to guess its meaning.

The most plausible interpretation among various guesses was that it was a mistranslation of the phrase "Train Hard, Dream Big." The English word "Train," meaning "to train," is homonymous with "train" as in the vehicle, which likely caused the confusion.

Meanwhile, on July 24, Cerezo faced Wung Patanakit (24, Thailand) in the women's 49kg Taekwondo final. The two athletes had a close match. With 10 seconds remaining, Cerezo was leading 10-9, but after conceding 2 points from Patanakit's body attack, she suffered a come-from-behind defeat.

Thus, Cerezo became the first athlete to win a Taekwondo silver medal for Spain.

Cerezo also expressed gratitude to netizens who showed passionate interest through her social media accounts.

At that time, she posted a photo wearing the black belt that became a hot topic and said, "There are not enough words to thank everyone for all the support and messages I received all day," adding, "Thank you so much."