“You work, you achieve,” says Olympic Taekwondo Coach Oh Hye-ri

It is not common for an athlete who did not win a medal to be praised at an international competition such as the Olympics. The coach of the athlete is even less likely to receive attention. Professor Oh Hye-ri of Korea National Sport University (age 37) is one of the few people who did. Professor Oh was the exclusive coach of Seo Geon-woo (age 22), who competed in the men's 80kg Taekwondo match at the Paris Olympics last year. When Seo was on the verge of defeat due to a referee's misjudgment in the round of 16, Professor Oh ran onto the pitch and helped overturned the decision. She patted Seo’s head when he achieved a dramatic come-from-behind victory and shed tears when he lost in the semifinals, failing to win a medal. Many people called her ‘girl crush,’ praising her tiger-like yet mother-like passion.

“I wasn’t recognized much when I won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as an athlete. But I see more people recognizing and greeting me first after the Paris Olympics last year,” said Professor Oh, who returned to university after the Olympics, with a laugh.

It took her three tries to win the gold medal at the Rio Olympics. She was 28, the oldest Olympic gold medalist in Korean taekwondo history. She did not shed any tears after winning the hard-earned medal.

Professor Oh was known for her rigorous training. She trained her students at dawn, morning, afternoon, and night. Many students gave up, but Seo Geon-woo was different. “I was harsh and formidable. But Geon-woo would ask to coach him for 30 more minutes even after the hard training was over,” she said.

The highlight of the training is the ‘circuit training’ conducted every Monday morning. One set consists of one minute of muscle training using a discus weighing dozens of kilograms, followed by two minutes of running at full speed. Doing three sets takes only nine minutes, but the effect is incredible. “You sweat like crazy at first, but the sweat stops at some point. You feel dizzy, and your head hurts,” she explains. Afterward, students are immediately directed to cycle, sprint for 15 seconds, and rest for 45 seconds, repeated 10 times. Though the whole workout takes less than 30 minutes, it is effective in building muscle strength and cardiorespiratory endurance

Professor Oh is focusing on coaching players ahead of the national team selection match next month. She runs practice in the morning, afternoon, and night and trains on the weekends. “I want to be a teacher that helps students achieve their dreams, rather than being a nice teacher. I believe that devoting efforts to do your best to achieve your dreams will help you in life, if not winning a gold medal,” she said.