It is clearly a taekwondo match, but the athletes do not make physical contact with each other. As the athletes continuously kick into the empty air, avatars on the screen engage in an intense battle instead. Virtual Taekwondo, which combines taekwondo with virtual reality technology, has been adopted as an official event for the first time at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. In this event, athletes wear body sensors and VR headsets to translate their movements onto avatars and compete against opponents. Because there is no physical contact between competitors, matches can take place regardless of gender and weight class. While Virtual Taekwondo adds gaming methods to traditional sports, eSports is a case where gaming itself has become a sport. The puzzle game Puyo Puyo Champions involves connecting and clearing characters of the same color. Although it looks simple, players must execute meticulous strategies while monitoring their opponent's screen and timing their attacks. Kang Dong-shin, who has dedicated eight years to mastering this game, says he never imagined that Puyo Puyo would become an Asian Games event and that he would become a national athlete. From virtual reality to puzzle games, sports are embracing the changes of the times and expanding the boundaries we have traditionally known.
  Athlete Kim Geon-myeong heads to work in his work clothes at a district office in Busan. Kim, who has been working as a sanitation worker for eight years, is a national kabaddi athlete competing in the upcoming Asian Games. He follows a grueling routine of rushing to the training facility after finishing his morning shift, returning to work in the afternoon, and heading back to the training facility after leaving work. Because there are no corporate kabaddi teams in South Korea, it is difficult to make a living solely through an athletic career. With national athletes balancing their respective livelihoods and training, it is not even easy for them to gather together and secure joint training time.
National teqball athletes, whose sport has also been adopted as an official event for the first time in this Asian Games, are preparing for the tournament under difficult circumstances. Three male athletes share a single hotel room as their quarters, and lacking a dedicated training facility, they borrow a jokgu court to practice. Having even quit their jobs to risk everything on training and participating in the tournament, the infrastructure to support their challenge is still insufficient. Although they wear the same Taegeuk mark on their chests, the training environments given to athletes vary greatly by sport. The "self-reliance" of athletes who must survive solely on the pride of being a national athlete continues.
  Dance that started on the streets has become a sport competing for Asian Games medals. Breaking national athlete Kim Hong-yeol is challenging for a medal once again despite being past the age of forty. In 2023, Dobong-gu Office established a corporate breaking team to foster unpopular sports. Kim Hong-yeol says that a corporate breaking team itself is a rare case globally. Being able to continue the dance he loves as a profession and focus on training, he leads the kind of athlete's life he has dreamed of since childhood, to the point where he sometimes thinks, "Is it okay for me to be this happy?"
We always expect the best performances from national athletes. However, those expectations cannot be left solely to the personal sacrifice and passion of individual athletes. Experts point out that a minimum support system must be established so that athletes can fully concentrate on their sports and continue their challenges even after the tournaments end. In an era where new sports continue to emerge and the faces of national athletes diversify, what is needed to ensure that the challenges of these athletes do not end as a one-time occurrence?

This week's SBS News Story meets national athletes from new and unpopular sports preparing for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and examines what is necessary for their challenges to continue beyond the tournament.