"I Want to Be Called 'Ye Seo-jeong's Dad'... Father Ye Hong-cheol's Commentary Tops KBS Ratings"

Yeo Hong-cheol Commentary Records 16.2% on KBS 2TV ... Overwhelming No.1 Among Terrestrial Broadcasters
Yeo Hong-cheol "Can't Express Watching Daughter's Match"

On the 1st, at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Japan, during the women's vault final of the Tokyo Olympics artistic gymnastics, Korean athlete Yeo Seo-jeong raised both hands high after completing her first vault performance. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] When gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong (19) won the bronze medal in the women's vault final at the '2020 Tokyo Olympics,' KBS, where her father Yeo Hong-chul (50) was a commentator, topped the ratings with overwhelming viewership.

According to Nielsen Korea, a ratings survey agency, the combined viewership rating for the women's vault event at the Tokyo Olympics broadcast by the three terrestrial broadcasters from 6:16 PM to 6:19 PM on the previous day (the 1st) was 28%. By channel, KBS 2TV, where Yeo Seo-jeong's father Yeo Hong-chul provided commentary, recorded the highest rating at 16.2%. SBS TV followed with 6.0%, and MBC TV came next with 5.8%.

Earlier, Yeo Seo-jeong won the bronze medal with an average score of 14.733 points from her first and second vault attempts. This was the first Olympic medal for South Korean women's artistic gymnastics.

In her first attempt, Yeo Seo-jeong performed the 'Yeo Seo-jeong skill' named after her. The Yeo Seo-jeong skill involves a powerful run-up, placing both hands on the vaulting table, and twisting the body twice (720 degrees) in the air, with a difficulty score of 6.2. Although she stepped forward by one step, she received a score of 15.333 for an almost perfect landing. In her second attempt, she performed a skill with a difficulty of 5.4 points, but her body leaned backward upon landing, causing her to step back three steps.

Athlete Yeo Seo-jeong (left) and commentator Yeo Hong-chul. Photo by Yonhap News

On that day (the 1st), commentator Yeo Hong-chul, who was providing commentary on KBS, expressed his nervousness before the competition started, saying, "If I had competed, I wouldn't have been this nervous," and added, "The feeling is really different from when I was a player. Watching my daughter's performance is indescribable."

He also seemed conscious of the phrase "Yeo Hong-chul's daughter" that always followed his daughter, saying, "Now I want to be called Yeo Seo-jeong's dad."

Watching Yeo Seo-jeong's first attempt, Yeo Hong-chul said, "You did so well," expressing his joy. When Yeo Seo-jeong made a mistake in the second attempt, he said, "It's okay," but added, "There was some regret in the landing."

When the final athlete's score was announced and Yeo Seo-jeong's bronze medal was confirmed, Yeo Hong-chul shouted loudly, "Ah~ bronze medal!"

Meanwhile, Yeo Seo-jeong's bronze medal added significance as she and her father Yeo Hong-chul, who won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, became the 'first father-daughter Olympic medalists' in South Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.