“What is important is an unbreakable heart.”
Lee Ji-hoon (28, LH), who won a silver medal in the men’s modern pentathlon individual event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, said, “The charm of modern pentathlon is that it is not over until it is over.”
Since one athlete competes in fencing, swimming, horseback riding, and laser run (track and field + shooting) competitions to determine the strongest, this means that if he does not give up until the end, a come-from-behind drama can be created.
In fact, Lee Ji-hoon climbed to the podium with his ‘same age’ Jeon Woong-tae (28, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall), who succeeded in a last-minute upset in the competition five years ago and took first place. Lee Ji-hoon, who started in 4th place in the first competition, swimming, rose to 2nd place by adding points in fencing, but due to no points in horseback riding, his overall ranking dropped to 5th place. However, despite an ankle injury, he ran in the last event, the Laser Run, and took second place with a time of 10 minutes 56.40 seconds.
Jihoon Lee riding a horse at the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) 2023 World Championships held in Bath, England at the end of last month. Provided by Lee Ji-hoon
Lee Ji-hoon, who is in his final training at the Armed Forces Athletic Corps in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, recalled in a phone interview on the 7th, “I almost went into the game with a lot of loss of confidence, but I gritted my teeth and played with the thought that I could do it until the end.”
Lee Ji-hoon later joined the Armed Forces Athletic Corps and won the right to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He won the men’s individual final at the 2019 Asia-Oceania Championships held in Wuhan, China.
However, Ji-hoon Lee, who was unable to participate in the Olympics as the Olympics were postponed for a year due to COVID-19 and his injury worsened, remained in Korea and supported his fellow athletes. He said, “It was very difficult physically and mentally, but it was a great consolation that (Jeon) Woong-tae won Korea’s first medal at the Olympics.”
After the Tokyo Olympics, the semifinals were added to the preliminaries and finals, which put a strain on her physically, but Lee Ji-hoon did not give up. He had not passed the preliminaries until last year, but advanced to the finals at the 4th World Cup of the International Modern Pentathlon Federation last May and placed 10th.안전놀이터
Jihoon Lee is seen fencing at the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) 2023 World Championships held in Bath, England at the end of last month. Provided by Lee Ji-hoon
Lee Ji-hoon, who gained confidence, had a ‘taste of medals’ by winning two bronze medals in the men’s relay and team event at the World Championships last month. He said, “It was a match where I could check my physical condition and performance ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games,” and “I am fully prepared.” “All we have to do is produce results,” he said, expressing his confidence.
The modern pentathlon finals will be held on the 24th, the day after the opening of the Asian Games. All four medals (men’s and women’s individual and team events) will be decided on this day. The team competition is criticized because the ranking is determined by adding up the scores of the top three of the four participating players, but the team’s determination is to overcome all the variables during the event in China and win the ‘perfect gold medal’ with their skills.
Lee Ji-hoon said, “All four of us have enough skills that it won’t be surprising who wins a medal,” and expressed his ambition, “We will bring good energy to the Korean national team with our first gold medal in the Asian Games.”