Kim Yeon Koung
Congratulations, Kim!
– Thank you.(Smile). Good morning.
It’s been a long time since we haven’t talked about good thing.
– Yes, it is..long time ago. I’ve been a while. Haha. I’m so glad to come back with good performance. I’m little bit tired but so fine.
Um…Kim, your voice sounds riggid.
I had a frog in the throat after I screamed the whole time at the games. Moreover, I just work up few minutes ago
After losing two sets straight, it seemed people thought Korea wouldn’t win this game but you were the only one to support and cheer your mates up. Eventually you made reverse victory. What did you think when the team was having tough time? Did you think it’s possible to reverse the game?
Before the game against China, I and teammates said ‘Let’s enjoy this last game’, but we were so tired until Set 2 and we were quite depressed and thought of the end of game. At the beginning of Set 3, we cheered up each other again by saying ‘Do not think about what we’ve done. We’re gonna really enjoy this game NOW.’ We all wanted to enjoy the game and I think it brought this great result.
Because of your cheering up, Korea NT won 3 sets straight and made miraculous victory. But I heard your right shoulder was wounded before the game with China, and your shoulder was even almost out of joint after two sets at that game.
My shoulder was fine when I trained in Athlete’s village in Korea and I was sure it would be fine. But the games in AVC were running almost every day, so I couldn’t do enough weight training. I’m so sorry for making you worried about my shoulder. But please don’t worry about it because it wasn’t out of joint at all. As I told you, my shoulder muscle became a bit weaker because I didn’t do enough weight training in Thailand. So it was tough for me to hit a ball under this condition but it’s okay. Everything is fine.
Becoming weaker, even doctor said you should stop playing now at Set 3. But you just went back to the court?
Yes. I was also worried about my shoulder. So doctor treated me the best and I took medicines and good healthy food to stand. That game wasn’t just qualifying matches or easy game but very important game. I had to be there in spite of weakened shoulder.
Kim, your spiritual strength is so great. What made you bring back to the court even though your shoulder wasn’t good enough to handle the game? Can you tell me the motive power?
The day before the game with China, we lost the competition against Japan. The atmosphere of our team was very low and even I was sad and angry. But we decided to overcome this depressed situation and take more steps forward. My wounded shoulder shouldn’t be problem when we all became the one to go forward.
What I thought was… It happened because what you felt as a NT player was very different from usual. You decided to retire from NT while fighting against HK and came back.
Yes, I did.
You retired from NT. But you played with Korean flag on it last week. How did you feel when you saw the flag on your shirt?
I felt so happy. It was so good. When I play Volleyball, I have nothing to think such as transfer problem or other things. So I am so in happiness when I play volleyball. Also I am so proud of myself while playing as a NT player, so I was very happy and it was so full of fun in AVC.
You did such a great work, Kim. You absolutely did. However, the conflict with Heungkuk hasn’t finished yet, right?
Not yet. HK raised the objection 19th of Sep to FIVB and Fenerbahce also appealed their thoughts to FIVB the very next day.
So, FIVB said ‘Kim doesn’t belong to HK anymore and Kim is free to go’ but HK required reconsideration. Can you guess how this story will be end?
Well, I have always claimed I was right and finally I received the answer of it. So I think FIVB’s decision won’t be changed at all. I believe what we’ve done.
I really hope this will reach the end happily so that I can see you playing in NT for a long time with smile on your face.
I hope so, too.
Kim, you did really good job. It’s your time to take a rest.
I will. Thank you so much for caring about me.
Thank you for the interview.
Also, see more similar stories in our section Interviews.
