PARK Sangyoung

Personal Information

Occupation Athlete

Languages Korean

License number 16101995003

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? He began fencing in grade eight of middle school in Jinju, Republic of Korea.

Why this sport? The fencing coach at middle school encouraged him to get involved in the sport, and epee was the only event that he was able to take up. "My parents were very against it because they didn't understand why I was playing a sport that they had never seen. Since they were so against it, I once left home. As a young kid, I was just playing for fun and they didn't want to let me, so I got mad and, to persuade them, I wrote lists of why I had to fence."

Club / Team Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall: Seoul, KOR

Name of coach Chang Tae-Suk [club], KOR; Ku Gyo-dong [national], KOR

Handedness Right

General Interest

Nicknames Icon of Positivity [given to him after he defeated Geza Imre of Hungary 15-14 in the epee final at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, despite trailing 14-10 with less than three minutes remaining], Crazy Fencer [because he is only interested in fencing]. (SportsDeskOnline, 06 May 2021; chosun.com, 11 Sep 2021; Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 16 Sep 2020)

Hobbies Playing video games. (chosun.com, 11 Sep 2021)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning gold in individual epee at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 29 Jul 2019)

Most influential person in career Korean fencer Jung Jin-Sun, and his mother. (Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 30 Jul 2019; mydaily.co.kr, 29 Nov 2018; veritas-a.com, 21 Oct 2021)

Hero / Idol Soviet and Russian fencer Pavel Kolobkov. (Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 29 Jul 2019)

Injuries He underwent two knee operations after the 2016 Olympic Games. He then suffered an injury to his knee in the individual epee final at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, where he claimed silver. His training was also disrupted ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo due to pain in his right knee. He went on to claim bronze in men's team epee at the Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 06 May 2021; Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 30 Jul 2019; news1.kr, 19 Aug 2018; sports.chosun.com, 31 Jul 2021; chosun.com, 11 Sep 2021)

He required surgery after damaging the cruciate ligament in his right knee at a competition in March 2015. He was sidelined for 11 months. (Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 16 Sep 2020; spotv.net, 25 Jun 2016)

He sustained an ankle injury at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Porec, Croatia. (ifeeltong.org, 26 Mar 2013)

He damaged the cartilage in his right knee when he was in the 11th grade at high school. (munhwa.com, 04 Nov 2014)

Sporting philosophy / motto "When I get stabbed, I kind of get angry." (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com, 21 May 2020)

Awards and honours He participated as a torch bearer in the torch relay for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (mydaily.co.kr, 29 Nov 2018)

He received the Excellent Athlete Award at the 2017 Korean Sports Awards in recognition of the gold medal he won in individual epee at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (newsen.com, 22 Feb 2017)

He was named the 2016 Fencer of the Year by the Korean Fencing Federation. (view.asiae.co.kr, 21 Dec 2016)

Milestones He and his teammates Song Jae-Ho, Ma Se-Geon, and Kweon Young-Jun became the first team representing the Republic of Korea to win a medal in men's team epee at the Olympic Games when they claimed bronze at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. (donga.com, 30 Jul 2021; SportsDeskOnline, 07 Apr 2022)

He became the first Korean fencer to win a gold medal in individual epee at the Olympic Games when he claimed victory at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. (SportsDeskOnline, 06 May 2021; news.sbs.co.kr, 10 Aug 2016)

Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and to become a coach after retiring from competition. (veritas-a.com, 21 Oct 2021; redbull.com, 29 Sep 2020; Subusu Sports YouTube channel, 16 Sep 2020)

Other information AUTOBIOGRAPHY
He has released an autobiography called 'Park Sangyoung: We Can Do It' about his life as a fencer and winning a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (bookapp.mk.co.kr, 05 Jan 2017)