Hwang Sun-woo and Park Tae-hwan Surpassed it Again

National Sports Festival Hwang Sun-woo and Park Tae-hwan Surpassed it Again… ‘MVP for the First Three Consecutive Years’

Overcame food poisoning and won 5 awards… 57 out of 63 votes ‘sweep’

Hwang Seon-woo (20, Gangwon Provincial Office), the star of Korean swimming,

succeeded in winning the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) three times in a row at the National Sports Festival for the first time in history,

something even Park Tae-hwan (34) had not achieved.

On the 19th, the last day of the competition, Hwang Sun-woo received 57 out of 63 votes in the MVP press voting,

beating Kim Woo-min of Swimming (Gangwon Provincial Office, 2 votes) by an overwhelming margin,

and won the MVP of the 104th Jeonnam National Sports Festival.

He also received a prize of 5 million won. 안전놀이터

Sunwoo Hwang won 5 crowns and became the first MVP in 2021,

which was reduced to the 19-year-old and younger division (high school division) in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

Last year, he won 4 crowns and succeeded in winning the MVP award for two consecutive years.

And this year, he won gold medals in all five events, including the men’s 800m relay on the 15th,

the 200m freestyle on the 16th, the 400m relay on the 17th,

the 100m freestyle on the 18th, and the 400m medley relay on the 19th,

winning five gold medals and being named MVP for three consecutive years.

A monumental tower was built.

The Korea Sports Council has selected MVPs since the 61st competition in 1980, and for over 40 years,

there has not been a single player who has received MVP awards three times in a row.

There are only a handful of players who have won MVP two years in a row.

Before Hwang Sun-woo, there were only two people: weightlifter Kim Tae-hyun (1998-1999) and swimmer Park Tae-hwan (2007-2008).

Tae-Hwan Park received the MVP award a total of five times (2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2017),

the most ever, but unfortunately lost the MVP award to Deok-Hyun Kim,

who set a new Korean record in the track and field triple jump in 2006.

Hwang Seon-woo won the MVP award three times,

approaching Park Tae-hwan’s record for the most awards.

Hwang Sun-woo, now 20 years old, will break the record for the most awards ever if he wins three more National Sports Festival MVP awards.

Hwang Sun-woo added meaning to this competition by overcoming his worst physical condition and winning 5 gold medals.

On the 12th, the day before the opening day, he and his teammates visited a restaurant in downtown Mokpo, Jeollanam-do,

where the tournament was held, and suffered from fever and stomach upset after eating raw food incorrectly.

Due to symptoms of food poisoning, I lost about 5kg in two days.

Hwang Sun-woo overcame his condition problems and won gold medals in all five events he participated in.

Hwang Sun-woo was expected to compete for MVP with teammate Kim Woo-min,

the men’s freestyle middle and long distance swimmer who won three gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games,

but he easily received the MVP award after Kim Woo-min won four gold medals and did not participate in the 400m medley relay, his last event.

There are a total of four athletes who won five gold medals in this competition,

including Hwang Seon-woo, Kim Seo-young (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office) of the women’s swimming division,

Heo Yeon-kyung (Bangsan High School) of the women’s high school swimming division, and Choi Kang-in (Yulgok High School) of the men’s diving division.

Heo Yeon-kyung, who won five gold medals in the high school division, set a new Korean record in the women’s 50m freestyle,

but was outclassed by Hwang Sun-woo, who won five gold medals in the general division.

Hwang Sun-woo is the ace of Korean swimming, succeeding Park Tae-hwan.

He set a new Asian record in the semifinals of the men’s 100m freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021,

and made his name known by becoming the first Korean athlete to reach the finals of this event.

Afterwards, he succeeded in winning medals twice in a row in the men’s 200m freestyle at the 2022 and this year’s World Championships,

becoming a star of Korean swimming.

Hwang Sun-woo, who confirmed his world competitiveness,

won two gold medals (200m freestyle, 800m men’s relay),

two silver medals (200m men’s medley relay, 400m men’s relay),

and two bronze medals (100m freestyle, 400m mixed medley relay) at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held last month.