'New history after 14 years': Yeo Seo-jeong crowned National Sports Festival MVP... Third in gymnastics history

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It is a historic achievement after 14 years. Yeo Seo-jeong (Jecheon City Hall), the flagship of Korean women's artistic gymnastics, was selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the 107th National Sports Festival.

The Korea Sports Association officially announced on the 22nd that, based on the results of a vote by reporters, Yeo Seo-jeong secured 30 votes (53.57%), more than half of the total 56 votes, to be finally selected as the MVP of the 107th National Sports Festival. As the MVP winner, Yeo will receive a trophy and a prize money of 5 million won.

The production of an MVP from the artistic gymnastics category at the National Sports Festival is the first in 14 years since Sung Ji-hye (who won five titles at the time) at the 93rd Games in 2012. Following Kim Kyung-hoon in 1986 and Sung Ji-hye in 2012, Yeo has become the third MVP winner in the history of artistic gymnastics, leaving her name in sports history.

Yeo Seo-jeong secured overwhelming support from reporters, defeating formidable competitors including Kim So-young (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office), who won four swimming titles, and Korea's swimming flagship Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Provincial Office), who was aiming for his fifth MVP in total after achieving four titles at the Games (excluding one gold medal in demonstration events).

Yeo Seo-jeong's performance at this tournament was unparalleled. After recording 52.966 points in the women's general division all-around to win her first gold medal, she swept not only her main event, vault (14.083 points), but also the balance beam (13.233 points) and floor exercise (13.000 points), achieving four titles at the Games. Adding a silver medal in the team all-around and a bronze medal on the parallel bars, she achieved an impressive feat of standing on the podium in every event she entered at this Sports Festival with 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and 1 bronze medal.

Yeo Seo-jeong, also well known as the daughter of Yeo Hong-cheol, former executive director of the Korea Gymnastics Association and a silver medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, is the figure who won the bronze medal in the women's vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, securing the first Olympic medal in the history of Korean women's artistic gymnastics.

In particular, Yeo Seo-jeong, who had endured a long and difficult rehabilitation tunnel due to overlapping shoulder and Achilles tendon injuries, made a brilliant comeback by winning the gold medal in the women's vault at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which concluded earlier this month. Following her victory at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, she reclaimed the top spot after eight years, completing an unparalleled career as the first Korean women's artistic gymnast to hold two Asian Games gold medals, and further proved her prime form perfectly by securing the MVP title at the domestic National Sports Festival.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original