Amid strong demands for reform and change, the generational change of the heads of sports organizations is rapidly progressing.
Professor Kim Dong-moon (50) of "Shuttlecock Doubles Legend" was elected as the new chairman in the 32nd election for the Badminton Korea Association on the 23rd.
Professor Kim Dong-moon won 64 of the 154 valid votes, beating current chairman Kim Taek-kyu, who won 43 votes, Jeon Kyung-hoon, president of the Korea Federation of Business Badminton, and Choi Seung-tak, former president of the Daegu Badminton Association, who won eight votes.
Professor Kim Dong-moon's election is the birth of another "Olympic Hero" sports group head, following the election of Yoo Seung Min (43), former president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, as the 42nd president of the Korea Sports Council on the 14th.
Both Kim Dong-moon, the new president of the Badminton Association, and Kim Yoo Seung Min, the president-elect of the Sports Council, are former star players who won the Olympic stage. 안전놀이터
Chairman Kim Dong-moon is a badminton legend who won the mixed doubles gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the men's doubles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Chairman Yoo Seung Min is also a 'table tennis hero' who won the gold medal in the men's singles final at the Athens Olympics after a 'green table rebellion' that defeated China's Wang Hao 4-2.
The two are also similar in that they toppled a solid stronghold and rose to the leadership position in the presidential election.
Chairman Kim surpassed Chairman Kim Taek-kyu, who sought re-election, and Chairman-elect Yoo was honored as the "President of Sports" by pushing out Chairman Lee Ki-heung, who was seeking a third term as the chairman of the sports association.
The Badminton Association faced strong demands for change as Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), who won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year, suffered a direct hit in relation to issues such as injury management and training methods for the national team, and Chairman Kim Dong-moon, who sympathized with Ahn's feelings and shouted "reform," was eventually chosen by voters.
Analysts say that Yoo Seung Min, the president-elect of the sports association, also targeted voters who wanted to change the system of Chairman Lee Ki-heung, who led the sports association for eight years.
In addition, the election of Chairman Yoo Seung Min will fill all three major sports organizations with Olympic gold medalists.
Chung Jin-wan (59), the president of the Korea Sports Council for the Disabled, was a former gold medalist in shooting at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, and Ha Hyung-joo (63), the president of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, is a "guided hero" who won the gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Chairman Ha Hyung-joo, who was recently inducted into the Korea Sports Association's "Sports Hero," said, "This year is the new year for the Olympic gold medalist to lead the three major sports organizations in Korea."
In this regard, Kim Taek-soo, vice president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, said, "Politicians and businessmen have been regulars as the heads of sports organizations before, but as in the case of Chairman Yoo Seung Min's presidency of the Table Tennis Association, a good precedent has been set to solve financial difficulties by attracting sponsoring companies."
Vice Chairman Kim continued, "It seems that the challenges of talented star players have met well at a time when sportsmen's desire for reform and change is great," adding, "The number of athletes entering sports organizations is expected to increase further in the future."