“MVP Kim Duk-hyun”

It is significant to break the “wall” in a record-setting event.

At the 87th Korea National Sports Festival, Kim Duk-hyun (21, Chosun University) surpassed “the unbreakable 17 m level” for the first time to set a Korean record of 17.07 m in the college men’s triple jump. At the Korea Sports Press Association’s press vote, which took place on October 23, Kim was unanimously chosen as Most Valuable Player (MVP) in this year’s National Sports Festival.

Kim Duk-hyun’s possibilities are unlimited. This is the reason that the press group put aside strong candidates including the five-time gold medalist swimmer, Park Tae-hwan (17, Kyunggi High School), and the triple crown in swimming, Chung Ji-youn (17, Kyunggi Physical Education High school), and awarded Kim as the MVP.

National team coach Park Young-joon (professor at Korea National Sports University), who is coaching Kim Duk-hyun, said, “With a little more work, the mid-17 meter level is also possible.” The current Asian record is 17.35 m. The world record is held by Jonathan Edwards (England) at 18.29 m, but recent winners of international competitions have come in the mid-17 m range.

The triple jump has four movements (approach run, hop, step, jump) and Kim Duk-hyun’s weakness is the jump. Coach Park said, “The speed of his run stays through until the step but suddenly drops at the jump. If Kim works on this, he will easily be able to pass mid-17 m mark.”

Kim Duk-hyun said, “I will jump 17.10 m and win the gold medal at the Asian Games this year. And in Beijing in 2008, I will bring up my level to 17.50 m and aim for the gold medal.”

Busan Transportation Corporation beat Suwon City Hall 5-3 with a shoot-out in the finals in the soccer general division.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi beat Gyeongbuk, finishing in last place in the overall scoreboard for the fifth consecutive time. The next National Sports Festival will be held in Gwangju.

zangpabo@donga.com yjongk@donga.com