18-year-old Kim Tae-hee, bronze medal at Hangzhou AG and blue at nationals… ‘2nd’ in men’s high school category
“Growth plate is still open…I can break 70m in 2 years”, says coach
In the ‘barren’ field of women’s hammer throw in Korean athletics, a big name has emerged.
It’s Kim Tae-hee (18, Lee Ri Gong-go), a high school girl born in 2005 who shares the same name as an actress.
Kim Tae-hee thrilled the track and field world last month by winning a bronze medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games and then dominating her male peers at the 104th Jeonnam National Games.
Kim began to make a name for himself at the Hangzhou Asian Games last month.
She became the first Korean woman to qualify for the Asian Games in the women’s hammer throw, setting a Korean record of 64.14 meters in the final.
She continued her rise at the national championships
. On March 15, she won the women’s high school hammer throw final at the National Championships at Mokpo Sports Complex in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, with a new national record of 60 meters (22 feet).
Kim’s record is not far off the pace of her male counterparts.
On the same day, the women’s general competition record was 59m11 (Park Seo-jin) and the men’s high school competition record was 62m86 (Park Ju-han). 카지노사이트777
Kim’s mark was good enough for first place in the women’s general category and second place in the men’s high school category.
Although there is a difference between the hammer weight (4kg) in the women’s senior and general categories and the hammer weight (6kg) in the men’s senior category, it is unusual for a female athlete’s mark to be higher than the top men’s mark.
Kim Tae-hee threw 64m14 at the Hangzhou Asian Games, coming within 1.05m of the Korean record of 65m19 in the men’s high school hammer throw (6kg).
An even bigger reason for excitement in the Korean track and field community is Kim’s potential for improvement.
Kim has only been throwing hammer for two years. She was a discus thrower through middle school before picking up the hammer in 2021, her freshman year of high school.
Kim’s potential is limitless.
“Kim Tae-hee has a body optimized for hammer throwing,” said Iri Gonggo coach Kim Young-hoon at the Mokpo Sports Complex.
“Not only is she tall (180 cm), but she has long limbs and very good pulling power.”
“What’s more,” Kim emphasized, “she hasn’t been doing any serious training because of her growth.
According to Kim, Kim was recently diagnosed with a growth plate that hadn’t closed during a medical checkup.
As a result, the intensity of her strength training has been minimized due to the risk of injury.
“The intensity of her strength training is less than half that of foreign athletes from China and other countries,” Kim said, “and even before the Hangzhou Games, she focused on speed training rather than upper and lower body strength training.”
“Once Kim’s growth plates close, she will be able to do full-scale strength training, which will allow her to improve her Korean record and break the 70-meter mark in two years.”
The 70-meter women’s hammer throw is a mark worthy of Olympic and World Championship finalists (12).
At Tokyo 2020, women’s hammer throw gold medalist Anita Blodarczyk (Poland) threw 78.48 meters, and only 11 athletes broke 70 meters.
If Kim Tae-hee can break the 70-meter barrier and reach 75 meters, she could win an Olympic medal.
The third-place finisher at Tokyo was Malwina Kopron (Poland) with a mark of 75.49 meters.
The standard for automatic qualification for Paris 2024 is 74.00 meters.
“The peak of a female hammer thrower is around 27 or 28 years old,” said Kim Young-hoon, “and with the support of her teammates, Kim Tae-hee can definitely become a world-class athlete.”