[ad_1]
Yuna Kim, left, and Kim Yeon-koung / Captured from Kim Yeon-koung’s YouTube channel
Two of South Korea’s most iconic athletes — volleyball famous person Kim Yeon-koung and determine skating legend Yuna Kim — held a uncommon on-camera dialog, uniting two figures who every reached the top of their sport.
Each outlined an period of their respective fields and achieved international recognition earlier than stepping away from competitors. In a video posted to her YouTube channel, Kim Yeon-koung, who retired final 12 months, described herself as “a first-year retiree” as she sought recommendation from Yuna Kim.
Media appearances after retirement had been the primary subject. Throughout a Q&A section, Yuna Kim was requested why she has largely prevented tv and YouTube since retiring.
“I used to be consistently within the public highlight from a really younger age,” she stated. “It left me feeling burdened, so I hardly ever appeared on broadcasts.”
She defined that she agreed to seem out of respect after being contacted straight. “I loved watching the channel, so I believed it might be enjoyable to hitch.”
She added that her firm probably assumed she would decline, given how hardly ever she engages with media platforms. “As a result of I don’t normally do broadcasts, I feel they naturally assumed I wouldn’t.”
“Viewers would possibly discover us showing collectively a bit out of the blue,” she stated. “However athletes hardly ever have the possibility to share in-depth conversations like this on broadcasts. I believed it might be one thing totally different from typical leisure packages.”
The dialog later turned to day by day life after retirement. Yuna Kim stated she has come to understand the power to relaxation with out nervousness, noting that in her aggressive years even break day felt uneasy on account of fixed issues about coaching and efficiency.
“I don’t train in any respect,” she admitted. “I do know it’s wanted for my well being, however I simply don’t.”
Kim Yeon-koung described a extra indulgent adjustment interval. After retiring, she stated, she loved late-night meals and alcohol — issues she had prevented as an athlete. A medical checkup later revealed elevated levels of cholesterol and liver enzyme readings, prompting her to return to common train.
“If I don’t work out now, my physique simply feels stiff,” she stated.
Yuna Kim, left, and Kim Yeon-koung / Captured from Kim Yeon-koung’s YouTube channel
What the 2 queens admire in one another
The 2 additionally traded observations about one another’s sports activities. Kim Yeon-koung stated she may think about Yuna Kim as a volleyball setter, noting that the place calls for strategic pondering and fixed decision-making.
“It regarded very totally different from what I do,” Yuna Kim stated of volleyball. “It’s fascinating to see how the sport unfolds reside, with gamers studying one another and reacting in actual time. It’s not one thing I ever skilled.”
She added that watching volleyball gamers soar typically made her assume Kim Yeon-koung would excel at determine skating jumps. Kim Yeon-koung responded with amusing, pointing to the bodily problem.
“With my 192-centimeter body, it wouldn’t be simple,” she stated. “However I do assume it might look hanging.”
Kim Yeon-koung additionally expressed playful envy over Yuna Kim’s position as an envoy for luxurious style home Dior. When requested whether or not she had lately attended a Dior occasion, Yuna Kim replied, “Simply yesterday.”
“How do you do this? I’m accessible too,” Kim Yeon-koung joked, giving Yuna Kim a thumbs-up. She added that seeing athletes function ambassadors for international manufacturers was each spectacular and provoking.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Occasions.
[ad_2]
