After becoming the first South Korean taekwondo athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 58-kilogram category, Park Tae-joon expressed his overwhelming emotions, saying, “I feel like I’ve been living for a gold medal.

Park, ranked No. 5 in the world, defeated Gashim Magomedov (26th, Azerbaijan) in the men’s 58-kilogram final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Taekwondo Games at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on Sunday (Sept. 7), winning by submission due to an injury to his opponent.

It was the first gold medal for South Korean taekwondo in this weight class.

It is also the first gold medal won by a Korean male athlete in 16 years since Son Tae-jin (68kg) and Cha Dong-min (over 80kg) at the 2008 Beijing Games.

“I think I’ve been living for this moment for 20 years,” said Park Tae-joon, who appeared in the joint press area with the gold medal around his neck. This gold medal is the culmination of my entire career,” he said.

Park was introduced to taekwondo before he entered elementary school, following a friend to the dojo, and began competing in earnest in fifth grade.

He was still small in stature until shortly after entering high school, but his growth accelerated as he grew to a height of 180 centimeters.

“Now I can add an Olympic gold medal to Hansung High School,” says Park, who admires Daehoon Lee, the coach of Daejeon City Hall, enough to follow him to Hansung High.

The “taekwondo star” from Hansung High School’s best Olympic result is a silver medal.

He lost in the final of the London 2012 Games to “The Fighter,” Joel Gonzalez Bonilla, and was awarded silver instead of gold.

“Winning an Olympic gold medal is every athlete’s dream,” said Park, who has been following Lee since his first Games. It’s meaningful and honorable,” he said.

“It’s not a dream, is it?” he asked when he first met the press, “The moment I won the gold medal, I was overwhelmed by the panoramic view of my preparation.”

Park, who was first selected for the national team in 2022 while still a student at Hansung High School, has grown tremendously in the past two years.

After making a name for himself on the international stage by winning the World Grand Prix Series in October 2022 as a high school senior, Park went on to win the World Championships (54kg) in Baku, Azerbaijan, last year.

In February, he defeated world No. 3 Jang Jun (Korea Gas Corp.) in the Olympic Trials to punch his ticket to Paris and then went on to win the gold medal at the tournament.

Park said that defeating Jang, who had never beaten a Korean competitor before, was a confidence booster.

“He was so good and a world-class player,” Park said. He even won a medal at the Olympics,” Park said, adding, “After (the win), I had a lot of determination and resolve to ‘do more’ and ‘I can do it.

He was seen descending the stairs of the Grand Palais to the final while listening to music.

The song he was listening to was singer Day Six’s hit song “So That I Can Be a Page.

“I listened to it because I wanted to make a page (of history) today,” Park laughed.

True to his word, Park made history by becoming the first Korean taekwondo athlete to win a gold medal in the men’s 58-kilogram category.

“I think I’ll have to think about whether I’ll do that,” he chuckled as he recalled the request from his three-year-old brother, Park Min-kyu, who wanted him to wear the gold medal around his neck.

Park Min-gyu, who followed Tae-joon to Hansung High, is also a taekwondo athlete. 안전놀이터