7 Foreign Leaders... Team Korea Turns Out to Be a Multinational Force [Paris Olympics]

Korea National Team Assistant Foreign Specialist
Badminton Indonesia Coach Agustinus
Women's Handball Sweden Coach Signal Team Deployment

Multinational forces lent their support. This refers to foreign specialists assisting the Korean national team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Among the Korean delegation's coaches, seven were foreigners. In four sports?women's badminton, women's handball, artistic swimming, and sailing?top-tier foreign coaches wore the Taegeuk mark and supported Korean athletes.

Roni Agustinus, the Korean women's badminton coach, is congratulating An Se-young on winning the gold medal in the women's singles final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
[Paris=Yonhap News]

Ronny Agustinus, the women's badminton coach, is from Indonesia. Born in 1978, Coach Agustinus knelt down and buried his face in the floor in joy alongside head coach Kim Hak-gyun when An Se-young defeated He Bingjiao (China) 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in the women's singles final at the Paris Olympic badminton event held on the 5th at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, France. This gold medal marked Korea's first Olympic badminton gold in 16 years since the mixed doubles pair Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung at the 2008 Beijing Games. It was also the second Olympic singles gold, the first being Bang Soo-hyun at the 1996 Atlanta Games, 28 years ago.

Coach Agustinus was a silver medalist in the men's team badminton event at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. During his active career, he was one of the toughest opponents for Korean badminton players. He joined the Korean national team in the winter of 2022 and became An Se-young's dedicated coach after last year's Hangzhou Asian Games. He focused on improving An Se-young's game management skills, which had been pointed out as a weakness, imparting strategies tailored to each situation.

At this Paris Games, Coach Agustinus's customized strategies paid off. He played a crucial role in An Se-young's comeback victory in the semifinals against Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Indonesia). Although An Se-young was completely overwhelmed in the first game, she transformed 180 degrees after listening to Coach Agustinus's advice to "attack and defend in a way that shakes the opponent's center." In the final against He Bingjiao, he continuously provided necessary offensive and defensive strategies, greatly contributing to the gold medal win. After the final, An Se-young expressed her gratitude, saying, "Thanks to Coach Agustinus's help, I was able to successfully compete in this tournament."

Henry Signell, head coach of the South Korean women's handball team, is giving tactical instructions to Ryu Eun-hee during the first match of Group A in the 2024 Paris Olympics against Germany.
[Paris=Yonhap News]

Henrik Signell, the head coach of the women's handball team, also drew attention. He is from Sweden. He took charge of the Swedish women's national team in 2016 and led them to their best-ever finish by reaching the semifinals at the 2017 World Championship. Coach Signell brought in three staff members: Eric Larholm, the strategy coach; Anton Klaesson, who was responsible for fitness for the former Montenegro men's national team; among others.

Coach Signell's team failed to advance to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics. They were eliminated in the group stage with a record of 1 win and 4 losses. They could not overcome the misfortune of being grouped with strong European teams such as Sweden, Slovenia, Germany, and Denmark. Although tied with Germany and Slovenia, they missed the quarterfinals due to goal difference. However, they left a strong impression by showing the spirit of ‘Woo Saeng Soon’ (a nickname for the Korean women's handball team). The match against Germany was a key battle that influenced the Korean delegation's early momentum. They defeated Germany, who were rated a level above, 23-22. Despite trailing by 4 goals until mid-second half, they demonstrated resilience by overturning the score. Coach Signell said at the time, "This was the best defensive game since I took office. I'm happy to win and proud of the players who prepared so hard."

Oksana Pysmenna, Korean Artistic Swimming Coach (right), is pledging a strong performance with Coach Kim Hyo-mi, Heo Yoon-seo, and Lee Ri-young (from left) at Incheon Airport ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
[Photo by Korea Swimming Federation]

Oksana Pysmenna, the Korean artistic swimming coach, is from Ukraine. She coached the Ukrainian junior national team for 12 years. She also worked as a choreographer for senior national teams in France, Greece, and Egypt. She has been working with Korean athletes since 2022. After participating in three World Swimming Championships and one Asian Games, she reached the Olympic stage for the first time in 12 years. At last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, the duet of Heo Yun-seo and Lee Ri-young placed 4th. The two athletes, who received intensive lessons from Coach Pysmenna, secured Olympic qualification for the first time in 12 years since the 2012 London Olympics. The artistic swimming duet event will be held over two days starting on the 9th, with the goal of entering the top 10. Will van Bladel, the sailing coach from the Netherlands, also actively supported Korean athletes.