"I Wanted to Die Until I Let It All Go" Kim Dong-sung Reveals Current Status as a Day Laborer

Short Track Early Morning Instructor, Construction Worker, Delivery Triple Job
"Hard to Let Go of Gold Medalist Title but Working Hard"

Former short track national team member Kim Dong-sung shared an update on his life working as a construction laborer and delivery driver.

On the 13th, Kim Dong-sung launched a YouTube channel called 'Bingshin Kim Dong-sung' and uploaded his first video. In the video, Kim Dong-sung started his day by leaving his house at 4:50 a.m.

Former short track national team member Kim Dong-sung shared an update through YouTube.
[Photo by YouTube capture]

After teaching skating to adults early in the morning, he spent his day working as a construction site laborer and then worked as a delivery driver after finishing his shift, leading a busy day.

Kim Dong-sung said, "These days, I am not coaching on the ice rink, but I am living each day diligently at a construction site," adding, "I have set a goal to stand on the ice again and am trying to move forward step by step."

He said, "Honestly, it took a lot of time to let everything go," and added, "It was really hard. It was difficult to reach the position of a gold medalist, but letting go was even harder. I was truly frustrated; to put it simply, I wanted to die."

He continued, "The title of Olympic gold medalist, short track Kim Dong-sung, always followed me like a tailbone," and said, "Because I have family who believe in me and live with me, I decided to get back up and live a second life. Now in my 40s, I thought I could no longer live trapped in the past."

Regarding why he started YouTube, he said, "Currently, I am not working in skating-related jobs due to making a living, but I have not completely left skating," and added, "Through YouTube, I want to talk about skating and hope to help friends who want to skate by donating my talent."

He further explained, "For those curious about my daily life, I wanted to show them, 'This person was once a gold medalist, and this is how he is living now.'"

About his future plans, he said, "I want to show the ordinary father in his 40s, Kim Dong-sung, living according to reality," and added, "I will set the goal again to succeed as a coach, a dream I could not achieve after retirement, and work hard to realize that dream."