[Anchor]
Amid the ongoing heat wave, some athletes are intentionally training during the peak of the day. Reporter Hong Seok-jun visited the 3x3 basketball national team, which is sweating it out in the scorching heat to adapt to midday outdoor matches at the upcoming Asian Games.
[Reporter]
At 1:00 PM, at an outdoor court at the Jincheon National Training Center under a heat wave warning, the men's 3x3 basketball national team preparing for next month's Asian Games is shedding heavy drops of sweat.
Due to the nature of the sport, which is played outdoors all day long, the players are willingly enduring outdoor training in the searing heat, using the shade cast by buildings as their sanctuary.
[Lee Dong-keun / Captain, Men's 3x3 Basketball National Team: Because we play outdoors, I think this kind of adaptation training is absolutely necessary.]
[Kim Seung-woo / Men's 3x3 Basketball National Team: Even though it is quite hot, our team is trying to overcome it together.]
The national team's confidence seems strong enough to beat even the extreme heat.
Composed of collegiate players aged 23 and under, the men's national team achieved their best-ever result as runners-up by defeating powerhouse China after an epic match in the semifinals of the Asia Cup last April, even when they were left without a single substitute after losing one player to injury.
[Lee Dong-keun / Captain, Men's 3x3 Basketball National Team: We will prepare like wild dogs and hold on stubbornly to the end.]
[Gu Min-gyo / Men's 3x3 Basketball National Team: Just as our team motto is 'ridiculous,' we will prepare so that we can surely bring back a 'ridiculous' result.]
Heading into the Asian Games with the exact same roster from the Asia Cup, the four Taeguk warriors—Lee Dong-keun, Lee Ju-young, Kim Seung-woo, and Gu Min-gyo—say their teamwork clicks effortlessly without needing words, vowing to defeat China and host nation Japan to surpass the silver medal from the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and capture the nation's first-ever gold medal.
[Lee Ju-young / Men's 3x3 Basketball National Team: Since all four of us know better than anyone else how desperate we are,]
[We will definitely win a gold medal. Let's go!]
The women's national team, consisting of four professional players—Heo Yu-jeong, Song Yun-ha, Choi Ye-seul, and Kim Jung-eun—is also challenging for its first-ever medal at the Asian Games.
[We will come back with a medal. Let's go!]
(Video Journalist: Yoo Dong-hyuk, Video Editor: Park Ki-deok, Designer: Park Tae-young)
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