Yeo Seo-jeong and Huh Woong Expected to Shine... National Artistic Gymnastics Team Arrives in Nagoya

The South Korean national artistic gymnastics team arrived at Terminal 1 of Chubu Centrair International Airport in Japan at around 12:40 p.m. on the 16th to kick off their campaign for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The national team has set a goal of winning one gold medal each in the men's and women's divisions, aiming for a total of two.

Lee Joo-hyung, head coach of the men's national team, expressed his aspirations, saying, "We will do our best to achieve good results proportional to our preparation," and adding, "We are a bit nervous, but since all the athletes have worked hard, we will approach it with confidence until the end."

The national team concentrated on their tournament preparations by recently holding a mock competition rehearsal at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province.

Now, they will begin their final tuning by adapting to the local venues and apparatuses while managing each athlete's condition.

Coach Lee said, "Some athletes had minor injury issues during the rehearsal, but they have recovered significantly now," and added, "We will do our utmost to help them recover even more before the competition, and from here on, we will fully adapt to the apparatuses and environment through podium training and other sessions locally."

The most anticipated athlete on the national team is women's vault star Yeo Seo-jeong (24, Jecheon City Hall).

Yeo Seo-jeong is returning to the Asian Games stage for the first time in eight years after winning the gold medal in the vault at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

As a bronze medalist in the vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2023 World Championships, Yeo overcame a shoulder injury sustained at last year's Paris Olympics and proved her enduring form by topping the podium at the Asian Championships in June of this year.

Hwang Seohyun (17, Incheon Physical Education High School), a promising talent on the balance beam, is also eyeing a medal.

Following her gold medal at the Asian Championships last year, Hwang won a bronze medal in the same event this year.

In the men's national team, expectations are high for Huh Woong (26, Jecheon City Hall).

Huh Woong, who placed seventh in the pommel horse at the 2024 Paris Olympics, claimed the silver medal in the pommel horse at the Asian Championships held in Jecheon last year.

The artistic gymnastics events for this tournament will take place from the 21st to the 25th at the Nagoya Municipal Gymnasium Rainbow Hall.

The South Korean men's national team will compete in the preliminaries on the 21st, and the women's team on the 22nd.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.