A group of Korea’s top female athletes, both retired and active, have gathered to have a great time together in front of the camera with their guard down. They have one thing in common — they have seldom had time to enjoy themselves and have fun, because they have always been too busy and committed to practicing and training to get to the top of their games.
A new entertainment show on cable channel E Channel features golfer Pak Se-ri, fencer Nam Hyun-hee and figure skater Kwak Min-jeong, who are now retired, and swimmer Jung You-in and sister volleyball players Lee Jae-yeong and Da-yeong. In the show, they will do what they missed out on when they were young, and have a blast like little girls.
Kwak, who is now a figure-skating coach, said, “I’ve never gone on a trip with friends [because of training]. I couldn’t get to sleep the night before the show started filming because I was so excited about having a campfire together.”
They did not know each other prior to the event, but just hit if off right away as if they had been acquainted for a long time. Pak said, “All athletes’ lives are pretty much the same. You get up very early in the morning and practice and practice until late at night every day. I think this shared experience helped us bond instantly.”
Once the camera was switched on, they did their best in everything they did, as if it was a competition. Nam, who now runs a fencing academy, said, “We wonder whether we came here to compete or just to have fun and relax. All of us do everything as if we were in a competition. After all, we are sportswomen and competitive by nature.”
The athletes were not worried about how they would look on TV. “When I took my mask off after a match at the Olympics, I was worried about my sweaty face being televised around the world,” said Nam. “But here, we look even more ridiculous singing, dancing and cheering. But I like the fact that people can see us genuinely having fun.”
Jung said, “Swimmers worry about our bare faces and big nostrils being shown, because the cameras are focused right on our faces when we are introduced in competition. But that has helped me not to care about how I would look on camera too much.”
“In this program, sportswomen are the main panelists and celebrities are guests,” said Pak. “I hope sportswomen can get more of the attention they deserve, and that the public takes more interest in various types of sports through this program.”