An Elementary Student Who Only Did Morning Exercise at School Wins Gold Medal at National Competition, Beating Athletes

An Ordinary Student Unusually Surpasses Elite Athletes

An elementary school student from Busan who participated in a morning exercise program operated by the school won a gold medal at the National Youth Sports Festival, surpassing elite athletes.

In the high jump event at the 53rd National Youth Sports Festival, student Jeong Ye-rim (center), who won the gold medal, and teacher Ha Gi-sang (left), who led the morning exercise. [Image source=Busan Metropolitan Office of Education]

On the 11th, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced that Jeong Ye-rim, a 6th grader at Yeonsan Elementary School who devoted herself to training through daily 'Morning Change (體仁智)' activities with a physical education teacher, won the gold medal in the high jump event at the 53rd National Youth Sports Festival. It is unusual for a general student athlete who participated without professional training to take first place over athletes who received elite sports education.

Notably, Yeonsan Elementary School, where Jeong attends, does not have an athletics club. Ha Gi-sang, the physical education teacher who coached Jeong, is not a specialist in athletics but has emphasized the importance of morning exercise for the past 10 years and has practiced physical activities during morning hours. Recently, in connection with 'Morning Change,' a representative policy of the Busan Office of Education, they have been discovering and nurturing outstanding athletes through '10-minute daily morning runs.' Furthermore, ahead of this competition, Mr. Ha intensively coached Jeong during the 'Morning Change' time based on his accumulated physical education know-how. This led to the remarkable achievement of winning the national competition.

'Morning Change' is one of the representative policies of the Busan Office of Education, aiming to cultivate students' character and social skills and enhance satisfaction with school life by promoting health and physical fitness recovery and character education through physical interaction during morning hours. Since its launch last year, 'Morning Change' has involved 594 schools, accounting for 94% of all schools in the Busan area this year. The Busan Office of Education has strengthened support for school sports activities, including morning change and fostering school sports teams, with the goal of 'all students exercising, student-athletes studying.' As a result, the office achieved the highest number of medals in 23 years at this competition, winning a total of 93 medals: 16 gold, 30 silver, and 47 bronze.