'First gold medal in gymnastics vault at Asian Games in eight years' Yeo Seo-jeong: "I didn't hope for the North Korean athlete to fall, walking in my father's footsteps feels so good" [Nagoya]

*This content was translated by AI.

Yeo Seo-jeong (24, Jecheon City Hall), who topped the women's vault competition at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, expressed her feelings: "I am happy and moved as much as I prepared hard." When asked about winning her second consecutive Asian Games gold medal alongside her father, former Executive Director of the Korean Gymnastics Association Yeo Hong-cheol, she smiled and said, "It feels so good to walk the same path as my father."

On the 24th at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium, Yeo Seo-jeong scored a final total of 14.483 points in the women's vault final, surpassing North Korea's An Chang-ok (13.666 points) to claim the top spot on the podium. This marks her second individual Asian Games gold medal, following her victory at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang (Indonesia) Asian Games. With this win, Yeo Seo-jeong has now secured two Asian Games gold medals and an Olympic medal alongside her father.

After completing the medal ceremony, Yeo Seo-jeong met with reporters and said, "If I hadn't felt any pressure, that would be a lie. The more pressure I felt, the more nervous I became." She added, "Given the high expectations placed on me, the pressure was real, and so was my desire to perform well."

Winning her second Asian Games gold medal after eight years, she remarked, "At the first competition, I did it without knowing much, but this time I thought a lot. Overcoming injuries to reach this point makes this gold medal especially meaningful." She continued, "My score came out as I expected. I felt determined to win the medal."

With this gold medal, she has become only the second athlete in history to win two Asian Games gold medals exclusively at the Asian Games, following her father's achievement. Notably, she is the first South Korean female artistic gymnast to accomplish this feat. Before the competition, she received a message from her father: "You did well yesterday, and you'll do well today too. I love you."

Yeo Seo-jeong said, "I now feel that I stand shoulder to shoulder with my father. It feels so good to walk the same path as him." She added with a smile, "When I return to Korea, I should ask for beef. He must have been worried watching me, so thank you."

Her main rival, An Chang-ok, fell during her second attempt, making Yeo Seo-jeong's gold medal race relatively smooth. Yeo Seo-jeong stated, "Honestly, I didn't hope she would fall. I wanted a fair competition, so it was unfortunate." She continued, "(An Chang-ok) is a world-class athlete. She trains very hard. Although we couldn't speak much, she consistently works hard."

Smiling, Yeo Seo-jeong said, "When I return to Korea, I want to eat hearty Korean food first." She added, "Tomorrow (25th), since the floor exercise is not my main event, I will enjoy it and try to perform without mistakes. I will continue to feel the pride of South Korean artistic gymnastics in consistent Asian Games performances."

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*This content was translated by AI.