Hoping for Euphoria Instead of Tears

Nobody called them losers. They lost, but were applauded. As they lost after close competitions, they finally burst into tears, and spit out bitter words, saying, “(Your) indifference made us lose.” This remark echoed again and again in the minds of Koreans. Their stories of struggle about fighting against stronger European players are still memorable, and have even been made into a film.

They are the Korean national women handball team.

South Korea and Denmark met in the Olympic finals in the Helenico indoor arena in Athens, Greece on August 29, 2004. At that time Denmark had around 1,000 club teams with 10,000 players, while South Korea had only four professional teams with about 100 players. Even after the main game and an extended game, there was no winner. The excellent play of Korean players who had to get an IV drip to endure the hell-like training was unbelievable because they were nothing compared to their counterparts on the surface. Until the moment when Korean players lost in the “shoot-out,” the 80-minute game was a desperate struggle.

When many people praised their persistence, Yim Yeong-cheol, the then handball team coach, said, “We lost because of the support from the Danish people. We, Koreans, show interest in the game during the Olympics, and then forget about it.”

Three years later, they are soaring again. On a heavily raining Tuesday, Coach Yim has been silent for several hours at the training center in Seoul. He is mapping out strategies for the first qualifying round of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which will be held in Kazakhstan from August 25.

Yim left the national team for two years and came back this May. He said, “I was exhausted and wanted to take some time off after the 2004 Athens Olympics. In the run-up to the Olympics, many people recommended that I take this job again. I feel a huge responsibility.”

There have been some changes. He said, “First, handball fan cafes (online fan pages) were created. Some cafes support players by teams. Private companies like Hyomyeong Construction Corporation created a handball team. The number of spectators has increased a little bit as well.”

Oh Yeong-ran, who played in the Athens Olympics, is now 35 and considered a relatively older player. Leading younger players, the goalkeeper will join the first round of the Olympics. She said, “There were no dramatic changes in training conditions, but I feel the increased interest of other potential fans.”

The national women handball team’s immediate goal is to make it into the second round of the tournament.

Only four players of the 2004 team are currently playing at the national team. Most of them, including Heo Sun-yeong (Aarhus, Denmark) belong to foreign teams. However, Yim said, “We will call back the 2004 players en masse. There will be no drastic change in players.”

Expectations are high for the 2004 handball silver medalists in the upcoming Beijing Games.

bluesky@donga.com ufo@donga.com