"This Time I Will Realize My Dream For Sure"

37-year-old “National Marathon runner” Lee Bong-ju (Samsung Electronics) will have a shot at another medal in his fourth consecutive Olympics, 12 years after winning his first one.

Lee Bong-ju, who won a silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, laced up his shoe strings again to fulfill his dream of winning a medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Lee failed to realize his dream in 2000 Sydney (24th place) and 2004 Athens (14th place).

The average lifespan of the world’s top marathon runners tends to be around 10 years at best. However, Lee, despite being under pressure for participating in the Olympic Games after 20 years of running starting from 1990, made his decision after winning the 2007 Seoul International Marathon in March. Lee won that race in a time of 2:08:04, the 11th best time in marathon history, coming from 30m behind with a late burst and moved up to the top position while gaining the confidence that nothing is impossible. In addition, the fact that no other junior surpassed his records has encouraged him to give it a shot.

Lee will head down to Beijing for a field survey one year advance to the real Beijing Olympic Games. He will depart on August 20, and on August 24 at 7:30 a.m., the day on which the actual race will take place, he will practice and experience the hot and sweltering weather in Beijing and run the 42.195km distance course from Tiananmen Square to the Olympic Main Stadium. This is a part of the “Beijing Olympics project” sponsored by Samsung Athletes club in an effort to fully support Lee in achieving his lifelong dream to win a gold medal.

His coach Oh In-hwan said, “This one year advanced field survey was designed to provide Lee a consciousness of his goal and motivation ahead of the Olympic Games.”

Lee, who already started training in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, will participate in either the Chicago Marathon on October 8 or the New York Marathon on November 5, and he showed his determination to win the 2008 Seoul International Marathon next March for a second time and then head to Beijing.

yjongk@donga.com