Jin Jong-oh wants to be Korea's next IOC Athletes' Commission member

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Published: 09 Jul. 2023, 12:18

Jin Jong-oh wants to be Korea's next IOC Athletes' Commission member

Jin Jong-oh poses for a photo during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Jong Oh Jin Shooting Academy in Seongnam, Gyeonggi on June 16. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Veteran sport shooter Jin Jong-oh, 43, is ready for the next chapter of his career as he mounts a bid to become Korea's next representative to the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission.

Jin is a Korean sport shooting legend, with six medals from five Olympics — four gold and two silver — making him the Korean athlete with the most Olympic medals alongside archer Kim Soon-yung.

“I want to be an IOC Athletes’ Commission member who represents a country and players as an athlete,” Jin said during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Jong Oh Jin Shooting Academy in Seongnam, Gyeonggi on June 16. “I want to do sports diplomacy more actively.”

The IOC Athletes’ Commission serves as a link between athletes and the IOC. Athletes’ Commission members work to provide athletes with a platform to share their voice and experiences during their eight-year term.

Every country in the Olympics has one member each.

Any athlete involved in the most recent Olympics is eligible to run as a member, which Jin qualifies for by competing in the 2020 Tokyo Games.

“I participated in the Olympics five times, and I communicated with foreign players often for four years from 2014 as an International Shooting Sport Federation Athletes Committee member,” Jin said. “There are 15 disciplines in shooting sports, and I feel like I am fit for administrative work as I have a meticulous character that I’ve gained from the sport.”

Despite his dream of becoming an Athletes’ Commission member, Jin is yet to retire from the sport and still practices shooting.

“I have to do it in order to retain my ego,” Jin said.

He even opened his own shooting range in Seongnam last month that has such facilities that analyze athletes' movements through a video system.

Jin Jong-oh poses for a photo in front of his medals displayed at Jong Oh Jin Shooting Academy in Seongnam, Gyeonggi on June 16. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Jin has also grown his presence more in the sports industry, taking multiple positions such as co-president of the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympics, player-coach for the Seoul Shooting Team and Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) member.

He has been actively teaching his fellow shooters in the Seoul Shooting Team and was asked to take the helm of the national team, but declined the offer in order to be an Athletes’ Commission member.

“I take [English] lessons twice a week from a Canadian teacher,” Jin said. “I do it in order to have more detailed conversations with athletes all over the world.”

With incumbent Korean member Ryu Seung-min’s term set to end next year, Jin wants to claim the position over two competitors: Korean volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung and Taekwondo practitioner Lee Dae-hoon, who are also looking to earn the spot.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee will inform the IOC of its final candidate in September, before athletes involved in the Paris Olympics elect the candidates next year.

“I write my ambition on my phone’s note-taking app when I wake up in the middle of the night,” Jin said. “I want to be at my sixth consecutive Olympics in Paris as an administrator.”

BY PARK RIN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]