A few days ago, an article written by the Walstreet Journal raged sports fans all over the world. The article concerned about the legendary Korean swimmer Park Taehwan and the mistreatment he experienced. The article explored how the Korean Swimming Association did not bestow Park with his prize money and how Park was unable to find a sponsor. What shocked the world most was Park advertising a medicine in a home shopping commercial?
This completely shocked both Korean and world sports fans due to the harsh treatment. People have always had the thought of Park as the popular Olympian appearing in lots of fancy commercials. However, he was now using his own money to train in Australia.
The case of Park lightened the problem with the Korean sports industry again. Is this showing the Koreans’ desire for only the top, the gold medal? 5 years ago when Park won both a gold and silver medal, he was the center of all the Olympic athletes. After the Olympic, he became a sensational celebrity and icon, appearing in nearly every electronic commercial. Even though Park did a wonderful job last year, he didn’t “please” his nation than 5 years ago, because he didn’t win a gold medal. Less people took notice of him and he was definitely not the center of the athletes this time.
Many say that the Korean society as a whole should not only respect and praise gold medalists, but should also praise and pay attention to silver medalists, bronze medalists, and the athletes who participated in the big international event. Rather than focusing on the color of his medals, people should focus more on his excellent talent and his admirable effort.