Chairman Choi Jung-woo: "Double the Prize Money for Shin Jae-hwan and Yeo Seo-jeong"... POSCO Sponsorship Draws Attention After Korea's Gymnastics Historic Achievement

POSCO Doubles Prize Money
37 Years of Supporting Korean Gymnastics Bear Fruit
Shin Jaehwan to Receive 200 Million KRW, Yeo Seojeong 70 Million KRW Scheduled

Athlete Yeo Seo-jeong (left) and athlete Shin Jae-hwan

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Choi Jung-woo, chairman of POSCO Group, has decided to significantly increase the prize money for the Korean gymnastics team, which achieved historic results at the Tokyo Olympics. Alongside the brilliant achievements of Korean gymnastics, POSCO's consistent sponsorship has also drawn attention.

According to POSCO Group on the 3rd, Chairman Choi Jung-woo decided to raise the prize money for the Korean gymnastics national team, which achieved the best results in history at the Tokyo Olympics. It is reported that immediately after the competition, Chairman Choi, representing POSCO Group, suggested to Han Sung-hee, president of POSCO Construction and head of the Korea Gymnastics Association, that additional prize money be provided at the POSCO Group level.

Accordingly, POSCO Group will more than double the originally planned prize money for Olympic medalists: 100 million KRW for gold medals, 50 million KRW for silver medals, and 20 million KRW for bronze medals. Shin Jae-hwan, who won the gold medal in men's gymnastics, will receive 200 million KRW, and Yeo Seo-jeong, who brought the joy of the first medal, will receive 70 million KRW in prize money.

The remarkable rise of Korean gymnastics, overcoming the hardships of a less popular sport, is widely regarded as having been greatly supported by POSCO Group, the chairman company.

Since 1985, POSCO Group has served as the chairman company of the Korea Gymnastics Association and has supported it with approximately 21 billion KRW over 37 years. Providing 400 to 800 million KRW annually, the support amount was increased to 900 million KRW starting in 2019 to allow athletes to focus fully on training.

Thanks to POSCO Group's full support, Korean gymnastics has made remarkable progress since 1988. After Park Jong-hoon won a bronze medal on the vault at the Seoul Olympics, Yoo Ok-ryul won a bronze medal (vault) at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and Yeo Hong-chul added a silver medal (vault) at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Following that, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Lee Joo-hyung won a silver medal (parallel bars) and a bronze medal (horizontal bar), and at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Kim Dae-eun and Yang Tae-young won silver and bronze medals in the all-around competition. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Yoo Won-chul won a silver medal (parallel bars), continuing the medal streak at every Olympics. At the 2012 London Olympics, Yang Hak-seon won the first gold medal (vault) in 52 years of Olympic participation.

As Korean athletes' skills improved, eponymous skills named after them have appeared one after another. Starting with Yeo Hong-chul's 'Yeo1' and 'Yeo2', Kim Hee-hoon's 'Heehoon', introduced at the 2013 World Championships, and Yang Hak-seon's skill, still the highest difficulty 6.0 on men's vault, have become techniques that athletes worldwide strive to successfully perform in international competitions.

The skill that Shin Jae-hwan scored the highest with 14.833 points in the second final round is the 'Yeo2', a 5.6 difficulty skill. Yeo Seo-jeong, who won the 2019 Korea Cup held in Korea with the 6.2 difficulty 'Yeo Seo-jeong' skill, also scored 15.333 points with her skill in the first final round, the highest among finalists.

POSCO Group plans to continue its support so that even greater achievements can be made at the 2024 Paris Olympics, not resting on the results of the Tokyo Olympics.

Meanwhile, POSCO Group, which actively fosters less popular sports, has POSCO Construction operating rugby and gymnastics teams, and POSCO Energy operating a table tennis team. Jang Sung-min, a rugby player who made a strong impression in his first Olympic appearance, belongs to POSCO Construction, and Jeon Ji-hee, a key player in the women's team reaching the semifinals, is with POSCO Energy.

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