Korean Marathoners Linked by History

Hwang Yeong-jo, the 36-year-old winner of the Barcelona Olympics marathon and current marathon coach for the South Korean Olympic Committee, put on a uniform with a Korean flag embroidered on its chest and ran on the same Berlin Olympic Stadium track on March 20 the late Sohn Gi-jeong (1912-2002) did 70 years ago.

The two marathoners, with 60 years between them, were fond of each other. Hwang used to call Sohn “grandpa” while he was still alive.

Hwang, overcome with emotion, rounded the track and stopped with his foot near the finish line, and took out a picture of Sohn, who finished 70 years ago on the very same spot he was standing. “He must have been very sad to run and with the Japanese flag on his chest instead of a Korean one. I often imagine him on the award platform, gazing down instead of looking up,” said Hwang.

Despite being separated by 56 years, the Berlin and Barcelona Olympic marathons were connected by striking coincidences. In both races, the winners were Korean; the dates of the races were the same: August 9; Hwang started his race at 6:00 p.m., the same time Sohn was standing on the award platform in Berlin half a century ago. It was as if a baton had been passed to Hwang from Sohn.

“In Barcelona, Kim Wan-gi, Morishita and I took the lead at the 29km point. Coincidently, it was at the 29km point that Sohn and England’s Harper took over the lead from Argentina’s Zabala (who forfeited at the 31km point).

The two marathon courses have similarities as well: a rising slope at 40km point. It was on this slope that Sohn knew he had won the race. At the same 40km point, Hwang passed Morishita.

Hwa-Sung Kim mars@donga.com