(Asian Games) S. Korean taekwondo poomsae practitioner overcomes dislocated pelvis to win team gold

By Joo Kyung-don

JAKARTA, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- When South Korean taekwondo practitioner Kim Seon-ho finished the first set of the men's team poomsae final at the 18th Asian Game on Sunday, he knew something wasn't right.

He realized that his pelvis had been dislocated.

"I obviously felt pain, but first, I felt really sorry for my teammates," Kim said. "But it's fortunate that we had a good result at the end."

Kim, a member of the South Korean men's national poomsae team, overcame his dislocated pelvis to win a gold medal in the men's team poomsae competition at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games after beating China 8.48-8.02.

Before performing the second set, South Korean medical staff put Kim's pelvis back into place. The 19-year-old then perfectly executed freestyle poomsae with his teammates Han Yeong-hun and Kang Wan-jin to grab the gold medal.

"When I entered the second set, I couldn't think of the pain because I was so focused on our performance," he said. "But as I finished the performance with my teammates, I felt so much pain in my pelvis. It still hurts."

Kim said he had dislocated pelvis two months ago during his performance for the national team selection trials, but he had no time to make a full recovery.

"The doctor told me to rest for three months, but I had no time," he said. "I thought it won't happen at the Asian Games, but unfortunately it happened."

His teammates said they were worried about Kim's dislocated pelvis before entering the second set, but trusted he would overcome the injury.

"Honestly, I felt nervous about him," Kang said. "But Kim told us that he can do it, and we believed that he would overcome the pain. I would not have blamed him even if we settled for silver."

Poomsae, a demonstration of attacking and defensive moves of the Korean martial art taekwondo, was staged for the first time as an official medal discipline at the Asian Games.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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