[Anchor]
Gu Bon-gil, the dependable eldest brother of the fencing "Avengers," is transforming into an SBS commentator for the upcoming Asian Games, grabbing the microphone to run alongside his junior athletes.
Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon met with him.
[Reporter]
Gu Bon-gil, the original member of the fencing "Avengers," stood in front of the camera wearing a neat suit instead of his familiar fencing uniform.
[Gu Bon-gil / SBS Asian Games Commentator: (The soul of a commentator) has to completely take over.]
Though the broadcast booth still feels a bit more unfamiliar than the piste,
[Gu Bon-gil / SBS Asian Games Commentator: I used to walk down those stairs right over there....]
He is busy preparing to channel the passion he once put into the tip of his blade into the microphone instead.
[Gu Bon-gil / SBS Asian Games Commentator: Hello. I am Gu Bon-gil, national fencing athlete. I am as thrilled and excited as when I first became a national representative.]
Starting with the London 2012 Games up until the Paris Games two years ago, Gu achieved a historic three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the men's sabre team event and secured six gold medals at the Asian Games, tying the record for the most won by a South Korean athlete. He retired from the national team this past June, bidding farewell to the Taegeuk mark he wore proudly for 18 years.
[Gu Bon-gil / SBS Asian Games Commentator: Since it hasn't been long since my retirement, I know those emotions better than anyone, so I think a battle cry might even slip out during the broadcast.]
Though he has laid down his own dream of a 7th Asian Games gold medal, he feels reassured by his young and reliable junior athletes.
[Gu Bon-gil / SBS Asian Games Commentator: (Oh Sang-uk) is like Shohei Ohtani in baseball. He has great character and trains hard.... Do Kyung-dong fits the modern trends and has great physical attributes....]
He promised to deliver these moments more vividly than anyone else, predicting that not only his fellow Avengers juniors, but also women's épée world number one Song Sera and the women's sabre national team—who maintain the number one ranking in Asia for the team event—will capture at least five gold medals, having sweated alongside them in Jincheon until recently.
[Gu Bon-gil / SBS Asian Games Commentator: I want to explain things easily through my commentary to let more people know the charm of fencing. The Asian Games are on SBS!]
(Video by Choi Ho-jun and Yang Du-won | Video Editing by Park Gi-deok | Design by Lee Ga-jin)
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