Nickname
The God of Vault, Beef Jerky [as a reference to the persistent injuries he has sustained to his right hamstring]. (news.kmib.co.kr, 13 Jul 2018; sportsseoul.com, 14 Dec 2015)
Occupation
Athlete
Family
Wife Park Jong-Ye
Spoken languages
Korean
Club
Suwon City Hall: Republic of Korea
Coach
Kim Sung-Man [club], KOR
International senior debut
2010
Injuries
He competed at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Republic of Korea, despite suffering an injury to his right hamstring. The same injury forced him to withdraw from the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, and miss the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. He also withdrew from the vault final at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, QC, Canada, after aggravating a hamstring injury during the warm-up. He was again troubled by his right hamstring in June 2021. (yna.co.kr, 13 Jun 2021; intlgymnast.com, 08 Oct 2017; sportsq.co.kr, 27 Oct 2015; yonhapnews.co.kr, 21 Jul 2015, 29 Jun 2015; Asiad Daily, 26 Sep 2014, 21 Sep 2014)
He fractured his right hand in 2018. (Instagram profile, 28 Nov 2019; news.joins.com, 24 Jul 2019)
In March 2016 he injured his right Achilles tendon during training. He required surgery and missed the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (imnews.imbc.com, 26 Apr 2017; yonhapnews.co.kr, 08 Jul 2016)
He suffered from injuries to his back and right ankle in 2013. (sbsespn.sbs.co.kr, 18 Apr 2014; english.chosun.com, 22 Oct 2013)
Start sporting career
He took up gymnastics at age nine.
Reason for taking up the sport
He followed his brother into the sport.
Milestones
He became the first athlete representing the Republic of Korea to win a gold medal in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games by claiming victory in vault at the 2012 Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 13 Sep 2018)
Ambitions
To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (joongang.co.kr, 27 Sep 2021)
Philosophy / Motto
"My biggest rival is myself." (sporbiz.co.kr, 27 Jan 2020)
Awards
He and Korean baseball player Park Chan-Ho were chosen as the final torch bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. (gwangju2015.kr, 03 Jul 2015)
He was named Athlete of the Year at the Korean Athletics Awards in 2012 and 2013. (people.search.naver.com, 12 Aug 2014)
He was named the 2011 Gymnast of the Year by the Korea Gymnastics Association. (people.search.naver.com, 12 Aug 2014)
Additional information
NAMED ELEMENT
He has a vault element called the 'Yang 1' named after him. He first performed the element at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. It incorporates a handspring forward and salto forward straight with triple twist. (yna.co.kr, 22 Dec 2019; Asiad Daily, 26 Sep 2014; english.chosun.com, 21 Apr 2014; semanticscholar.org, 01 Jan 2014)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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