Ahn Chang-ok Drew Gasps From the Crowd
[Asian Games] North Korea’s ‘Artistic Gymnastics Goddess’ is Born... Ahn Chang-ok Drew Gasps From the Crowd
Artistic gymnastics vault and double parallel bars gold medal... After shooting, followed by gold veins
North Korea, which participated in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, continued its reputation as a "gymnastics powerhouse" by adding two gold medals in artistic gymnastics.
Ahn Chang-ok (20) won gold medals in both the artistic gymnastics women"s vault and double parallel bars finals held at the Huanglong Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 28th.
The vault received an average of 14.049 points in the first and second periods, and the double parallel bars scored 14.266, easily beating the competitors.
Another North Korean athlete, Kim Seon-hyang, scored 13.600 points in the vault, giving North Korea gold and silver medals in this event.
Ahn Chang-ok previously won a bronze medal with her colleagues in the women"s artistic gymnastics team finals held on the 25th.
On this day, North Korea broke from its gold medal drought by winning a gold medal in the "10m Running Target Women"s Team Event" in shooting, as well as two gold medals in artistic gymnastics.
The North Korean artistic gymnasts competed in a much brighter atmosphere than the athletes in other sports ahead of them, with confidence in their abilities and the news of their first gold medal in women"s shooting that had just been announced.
Kim Seon-hyang, who went first in her vault event, gave the camera a thumbs up with a smiling expression after finishing her performance and held hands with the other athletes next to her.
When Ahn Chang-ok received a high score, he smiled brightly as if he knew he would win the gold medal, and his coach hugged him and encouraged him.
When her gold medal was confirmed in the double parallel bars competition, she smiled brightly and seemed to share her joy with her colleagues.
Six to seven North Korean players arrived early in the tournament bleachers, waving small North Korean flags and cheering on the players in loud voices.
However, the North Korean players we met in the joint coverage area (mixed zone) almost ran around to avoid questions.
Ahn Chang-ok, born in 2003, who competed in the Asian Games for the first time, is expected to play a role as the "future" of North Korean women"s artistic gymnastics in the future.
She ranked 10th to 20th on the international stage for the first time in 2019, and this competition proved her top-level skills in Asia.
On this day, the audience unanimously burst into exclamations of admiration as they repeatedly demonstrated difficult techniques in the two sports.
North Korea has traditionally been strong in artistic gymnastics, and its gymnastics hero Ri Se-gwang, known as the "god of vault", is especially famous.
Ri Se-gwang"s contributions were recognized in North Korea and he was awarded the titles of "People"s Athlete" and "Effort Hero".
Ri Se-gwang, who has been a member of the North Korean national team since 2003, won the gold medal in vault at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and then won the vault twice in a row at the 2014 Nanning, China, and 2015 World Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow, England, making his name as a champion.
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Ri Se-kwang showed off her overwhelming skills in the vault finals and became the third North Korean gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal.
Ri Se-gwang"s high-level technique of lifting the vault to the side, spinning two times, then twisting one round before landing is also listed in the International Gymnastics Federation"s vault scoring rules.
Here, Hong Eun-jeong, known as North Korea"s "gymnastics fairy", cannot be left out.
He won the gold medal in the vault event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics ahead of Ri Se-gwang, and also won the same event at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.