Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim may have breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday as their golf gold medal at the Asian Games allowed them to avoid conscription in South Korea.
Regardless of whether you are a professional athlete or not, in this country you must definitely join the army for 21 months before you turn 35. However, a South Korean athlete can receive an exemption if they win a medal at the Olympics or gold at the Asian Games.
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Im, Kim and their amateur teammates Jang Yu-bin and Cho Woo-young defeated Thailand by 25 strokes. This is also the first time that professionals will be able to take part in the Asian Games. In the PGA rankings, I am ranked 27th and Kim is ranked 38th.
“It was the longest four days of my career,” Im, 28, told Yonhap News Agency. Every hole seemed so important and I knew every shot counted towards the team competition. I wanted to fight for every shot and give my best until the end. »
🚨🇰🇷🥇#LIBERATED 🪖 — Si Woo Kim & Sungjae Im won gold in the Asian Games team competition and are exempt from 21 months of compulsory military service. Sungjae said of the life-changing week: “It was the longest four days of my career. Every hole felt his… pic.twitter.com/4AM1y8K67q
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) October 1, 2023
The two men unsuccessfully competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and therefore had their sights set on Paris in 2024 to win a medal. However, the Asian Games, postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, proved to be a blessing.
In the past, South Korean golfers like Sangmoon Bae and KJ Choi, who won 10 PGA tournaments between them, had no choice but to serve in the military. The second made it before dominating on the golf courses of the professional circuit.