Athlete eyes Asian Games gold medals in real, virtual taekwondo events
No Korean taekwondo practitioner has won more than one gold medal at an Asian Games, for the simple reason that athletes could only compete in one weight class at a time. For this year's Asian Games, however, they will have a chance to bring home two medals for the first time, thanks to the addition of virtual taekwondo. In the digitized version of the Korean martial art, practitioners wearing…
Korean taekwondo athlete An Hyang-sik eyes a historic double gold medal feat at the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan. Traditionally, Korean practitioners have been limited to winning just one gold medal per Asian Games due to the one-weight class rule. However, this year, the addition of virtual taekwondo allows competitors to earn two medals for the first time.
An will compete in both traditional and virtual taekwondo events. In the virtual version, athletes wear VR headsets and motion-tracking devices to face off against computer-generated opponents. The objective is to diminish the opponent's power gauge or retain more of one's own gauge after a 60-second round, reminiscent of combat video games.
An Hyang-sik, set to compete in the men's 58 kilograms category against real opponents, expressed his ambition to hear the national anthem twice during the Japanese event. He shared these sentiments with reporters after taking part in a World Taekwondo Grand Prix event in Muju, approximately 180 kilometers south of Seoul.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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