'Triumphant Return' Lee Jun-seok: "We're Told Teqball Athletes Can Enter the National Athlete's Village, Too"

[Anchor]

Athlete Lee Jun-seok, who emerged as a surprise star by winning a gold medal in the newly introduced teqball event, has made a triumphant return home. His dream of training at the national athlete's village is also set to become a reality.

Reporter Kim Minjun has the story.

[Reporter]

Lee Jun-seok, who departed for Nagoya with little to no attention, has proudly returned as the inaugural teqball champion of the Asian Games.

[Let's go!]

[Lee Jun-seok / National Teqball Team: Since it was a debuting event, when we left, I think we went with a calm mindset of just doing our best and coming back. Bringing back such great results makes me feel so proud.]

Putting even his livelihood on hold, he dedicated his life to this unfamiliar sport to prepare for the Asian Games.

Amid harsh conditions where even finding a training venue was not easy,

[Lee Jun-seok / National Teqball Team: Until around July, we trained outdoors under the scorching sun. Especially during the monsoon season, rain kept coming and going. So we would set up the tables to train, and whenever it rained, we would pack them up and go inside...]

Another piece of good news has reached Lee, who has finally achieved his dream.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee announced that it will provide support so that teqball athletes can also train at the Jincheon National Training Center.

[Lee Jun-seok / National Teqball Team: Hearing that such support has emerged due to good results, and hearing about the possibility of more corporate teams being established in the future, made me feel that our hard times weren't in vain...]

Lee is not settling here and is running toward an even bigger dream.

[Lee Jun-seok / National Teqball Team: If teqball goes beyond the Asian Games and is adopted into the Olympics, my goal will be to definitely compete then as well and achieve great results.]

(Camera: Yang Jihoon, Video Editing: Shin Seeun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.