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When the ‘2024 Paris Olympics' table tennis women's team bronze medal decision match was held on the 10th, unexpected people were caught on the screen and attracted much attention. They are no other than SHINee’s Minho and actor Lee Dongwook who were seen holding up the national flag and giving their passionate support. Could it be the strength they got that day? The representative table tennis women’s team had bronze medals hanging around their neck after 16 years after defeating Germany with 3 to 0.
Minho who still has that lingering taste left in him said ‘I had my hands sweating and throat bursting giving them my support’ and ‘I took pictures with the athletes when they came closer to the support zone and I felt proud as a South Korean citizen, felt touched and happy’ as he recalls that day vividly.
"Olympic Friends" is a program newly established by the IOC last year, allowing celebrities, not athletes, to spread the value of the Olympics. Minho was appointed as the world's first "Olympic Friends" and continued his activities at the "2024 Paris Olympics" following the "2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games."
Through this activity, Minho said ‘I had a great time and it was an honor and enjoyable to me to experience such a precious experience that can’t be easily experienced. Not only table tennis, Minho also cheered for Korean athletes at various sports stadiums such as taekwondo, modern pentathlon, and sports climbing during the tournament period. He said ‘Rather than the color of the medal or the ranking, just being able to give my support to the Korean athletes makes me happy and my heart is full knowing that I can deliver a sense of strength to them.’
The Olympic received so much attention worldwide to the extent that there aren’t any empty seats at the site. Minho recommended to personally go to the Olympics for once in your life if given the chance to experience it as the atmosphere feels so different from how you felt through screens.
In addition, worldwide famous attractions in Paris known as the ‘City of Arts’ have transformed into a stadium which overwhelmed the athletes and the spectators. Minho shared ‘Including the beach volleyball stadium in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais stadium that held Taekwondo and Fencing, and the modern pentathlon that was held at the Palace of Versailles left a great impression in me.’
More than anything, even though the language and culture in the whole world are different, he was thrilled to be able to personally witness how greetings were exchanged with smiles with sports as the medium. He shared ‘When talking about the Olympic values, it would usually be about fair plays or doing their best but this time, it’s fascinating to see the whole world becoming one here. If I were to use just one word to express it, I can only think of the word ‘Touched’ so it’s a new emotion I got to feel.’
Minho actively promoted the Olympics by sharing it on SNS, showing how he went around various stadiums with the Korean national flag in Paris to give his support. He also expressed confidence in his ability to do better than anyone else as an 'Olympic Friends' at the next Olympics. It was a good motivation to see people enjoying the Olympics themselves, beyond just cheering for the games.
He shared ‘The Winter Olympics in Milan and the Summer Olympics in LA are about to happen so if I am also able to go then, since I have properly experienced it this time, I will be able to enjoy the Olympics even better than how I did this time.’
Below is the 1Q1A with Minho.
Q. After being selected as 'Olympic Friends' last year, following the '2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games', this year's 'Paris Summer Olympics’ is the second time you are active. Please tell us how you feel.
M. Thanks to that, I was happy and honored to be able to experience a precious experience that can’t be easily experienced in life. It’s been 3 days since I am back and I am already missing those times and it felt like a dream. I like to do various sports and watch various sports on my own time and have an interest in the Olympics as well so it feels like the IOC captured this part of me well. After being selected as ‘Olympic Friends’ last December and being the torch-bearer at the ‘2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics,’ I did promotional activities such as filming YouTube content, watching a luge game in person, etc. To be able to participate in the Paris Olympics this time too is a continuation of my activities as the ‘Olympic Friends’ in which I received an invitation to do so and to be able to give my most support to the South Korean athletes at the closest distance was such a great honor to me.
Q. There might be those who don’t know about ‘Olympic Friends’, what kind of role do you take on and what kind of activities have you done this time?
M. When talking about the Olympic values, it would usually be about fair play among the athletes or doing their best but unexpectedly, after seeing the clean support culture and sports matches, I felt touched to say that that is the value of the Olympics too and that contributes to promoting it to more people.
Q. You garnered attention by being captured on the screen when you were showing your support. You went to watch various matches too, like table tennis, taekwondo, basketball, breaking, weightlifting, etc. Share with us how was the atmosphere at the site.
M. If I were to share about the table tennis match that I was caught on screen, it would be much more lively and fun than how I saw it from the screen. Especially since it was a match in which they earned medals, I had my hands sweating and throat bursting giving them my support. I took pictures with the athletes when they came closer to the support zone and I felt proud as a South Korean citizen, felt touched and happy’
Not only table tennis, but I also cheered for the Korean athletes at various sports stadiums such as taekwondo, modern pentathlon, and sports climbing, and rather than the color of the medal or the ranking, just being able to give my support to the Korean athletes when I go to the stadiums makes me happy and my heart is full knowing that I can deliver a sense of strength to them. That’s why I felt a huge sense of happiness and pride throughout the match.
Also, not only the Korean matches, I felt this while watching the matches from other countries too the Olympics is such a huge event that is receiving so much attention worldwide to the extent that there isn’t any empty seat at the site. It feels very different from how it felt by watching through the screens so if given the chance to experience it once in your life, I recommend you to attend the Olympics for once and you will definitely not regret it and it will be a huge experience for you.
Modern pentathlon is an event I personally want to try and to be watching it in person, I fell harder because of its charm. All types of sports are a fight with ourselves so our stamina and mental strength are important, especially for the modern pentathlon, since it has 5 events, it feels like it’s the most lonely and hardest event of all. I think that it’s a really cool sport.
Q. Please introduce a match, a stage, or an athlete that leaves the deepest impression on you.
M. What left the deepest impression on me was the transformation of Paris’ representative attractions to the stadiums. Including the beach volleyball stadium in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais stadium that held Taekwondo and Fencing, and the modern pentathlon that was held at the Palace of Versailles was really cool. It gave off the touching emotions of a match but the aura that the stadium exuded made a deep impression on me of how overwhelming it felt for the athletes as well as the spectators.
Other than the match, I remember the events that took place around the stadium. At the stadium where the basketball and volleyball took place, there was a booth where one could try out basketball and volleyball, and for breaking which is a new event added this time, it made me an impression that the dance culture can now get support and can also be enjoyed by many. Watching the matches, I like the fact that people are actually enjoying the Olympics itself rather than just simply showing their support.
Q. Not only K-Sports, we heard that there was a high level of popularity and interest in Korean culture such as K-Pop, food traditional culture, etc during the period that the Olympics was taking place in Paris. So if you were to compare that to when SHINee visited Paris for your activity?
M. I focused on the stadiums and the events happening around the stadiums for my schedule this time so it’s such a pity that I wasn’t able to go to Korea House where the Korean cultural events took place. Instead, where I stayed was a place rented out totally by the IOC so it was mostly those invited by the IOC or their families, their employees, and not athletes.
My fans came by the hotel every day so I would greet them and sign for them and that sight was fascinating to the IOC employees and the security guards. They know that I am not an athlete so they asked if I am a star while explaining it to them, I naturally got to tell them about Korea.
When I was here in Paris for SHINee’s concert, I was here as a singer so though I could feel the local atmosphere in the concert venue close to my skin, everything out of the concert hall was just hearsay. However, because I am here not as a singer this time but as someone who is going to give another person my support, I was able to understand my fans’ point of view better.
Q. After carrying out your activities as ‘Olympic Friends’ this time, what’s the most important value of the Olympics?
M. When talking about the Olympic value, it would usually be about fair plays or doing their best but this time, it’s fascinating to see the whole world becoming one here. It was my first time feeling such an emotion to see everyone smiling and greeting each other and sharing many things through sports, even though we gathered to support the country and athletes. If I were to use just one word to express it, I can only think of the word ‘Touched’ and it was a new feeling I had never felt before.
Q. The Paralympics is about to start this 28th. Please give us a word of support so that the heat of the Paris Olympics to continue.
M. What was cool at the Paris Olympics’ closing ceremony this time was that instead of saying ‘Let’s meet at the LA Olympics’ it was ‘Now, we shall meet at the Paralympics’.
That left a deep impression on me. It’s because that’s where the Paralympic athletes will be able to prove the result of their 4 years of hard work preparing so if the people of our nation can give them lots of interest and love while giving them our support, they might also achieve a good result.
Also, even though the Olympics comes only once every 4 years, but from the point of view of athlete, they will be pouring their blood, sweat, and tears for those 4 years. As I watched it myself at the site, I felt very motivated a lot and that made me look back on life once again, and while on the one hand, I was able to reflect on myself, on the other hand, I gained a sense of challenge so this had allowed me to feel lots of good emotions.
That’s why if there’s a chance, instead of watching it through your screen, I recommend you to personally go and watch, not only Korean matches but other matches too.
The next Winter Olympics will be taking place in Milan and after that, the Summer Olympics will take place in LA so if I am able to go then, I will be able to enjoy the Olympics better than I did now.
