Daegu awaits world’s top athletes

Korean city ready for the big day


On a blazing hot afternoon last week at the Taeneung Training Center in northeast Seoul, a group of sprinters were warming up by jogging around the running track.

Their faces, necks and arms glistened with sweat as they sped up.

“Since last December, we’ve been staying here, training for the world championships,” said Korean national team hurdler Park Tae-kyung.

Park is part of a 60-member team for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which kicks off on Aug. 27 in Daegu, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul.

The 31-year-old, who holds the country’s record of 13.48 seconds in the men’s 110m hurdles, said that he had undergone rigorous training over the past year for the country’s first-ever athletics championships.

“I’ve never felt such pressure before. It’s our home event, and I really want to show something to the home fans,” he said.

In less than two weeks, Daegu will play host to the world’s third-largest sporting event, inviting the fastest and strongest athletes as well as hundreds of international sports officials.

The Daegu championships will be the biggest athletics event in its history, said Cho Hae-nyoung, co-president of Local Organizing Committee for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

As of Aug. 12, 2,474 athletes from 207 different countries have registered for the Daegu worlds, nearly 500 more athletes than the previous event in Berlin in 2009, according to Cho.

“The Daegu championships will be the biggest and also the best athletics event ever,” he told The Korea Herald.

The 68-year-old official said that final preparations are nearing completion to celebrate the biennial event.

To host the world’s biggest athletics competition, Daegu has installed state-of-art Mondo track and field surface at Daegu Stadium, and also recently completed the athletes and media village, which can accommodate up to 3,500 people.

The village, which is located just five-minutes drive from the main stadium and training area, is preparing to open its doors on Saturday.

“We’re ready to provide the best possible conditions for the athletes. We’re ready and confident to make the event successful,” said Cho.

Star attractions

Korea has already successfully staged the 1988 Olympics and the 2002 World Cup, and now the world’s eyes will be here once again. This year, all the big names in athletics, including Usain Bolt of Jamaica, the world’s fastest man, will compete for gold medals in 47 sports events.

One of the highlights is the men’s 100-meter race, where the 25-year-old Jamaican will look to break his own world record of 9.58 seconds. Bolt’s countryman Asafa Powell, will be there to challenge him in Daegu. The 29-year-old former world record holder boasts the fastest 100m time of 9.78 seconds this season.

The men’s 110m hurdles is also expected to be an exciting event with world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, American Champion David Oliver and Chinese star Liu Xiang competing for the gold medal.

Elsewhere, Russia’s two-time Olympic pole-vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva is aiming for her international comeback.

The local organizers insist that the Daegu Championships will help create an athletics boom here.

The Korean national team had a disappointing campaign at the previous championships in Berlin two years where all 19 athletes were knocked out in the preliminary rounds.

Hoping to make the most of home advantage, the national athletics team has set a goal of finishing in the top 10 in 10 events in Daegu, and is sending the largest number of athletes in its history.

Oh Dong-jin, president of the Korea Association of Athletics Federation, said that he believes this year’s worlds will provide a great opportunity for Korean athletics to shine on the world stage.

“The athletics championships is not the end of our journey, it will be only the beginning, it will be a stepping stone for our athletics to step closer to the world,” he said.

“I’m a little bit nervous, but looking forward to competing in Daegu,” said hurdler Park, noting that he hopes to make it into the final in the men’s 110m hurdles event.

“I’m ready and prepared to meet the world’s best athletes, I want to show my best in front of our home fans,” he added.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)