‘KIM YEON-AH’S FRIEND’ KWON HYUN-AH CHALLENGE’S PARIS PARALYMPICS “I’LL WIN A MEDAL TOO”

항저우 장애인아시안게임에 출전한 장애인 배드민턴 국가대표 권현아

Para badminton ace Kwon Hyun-ah (34, Korea Disability Employment Service) has a special relationship with “figure queen” Kim Yeon-ah .They were classmates when she was a second-year student at Gunpo Surigo.”At the time, (Kim) was a world-class athlete, and she probably didn’t remember me because she was so busy,” Kwon told reporters at the Icheon Athletes’ Village in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeonggi-do, where the opening ceremony of the 2024 Korean Paralympic team training was held on Friday. “At the time, I just looked at her as an object of admiration. “Kwon didn’t even get Kim’s autograph or take a picture with her like her other friends. “She had a passive personality at the time,” he said .Kwon became disabled at the age of six. She injured her spinal cord in a fall. In a wheelchair since she was a child, Kwon went to school quietly like other children with disabilities.

In elementary school, she couldn’t participate in physical education activities. “I stayed in the classroom when my other friends went out to the playground for physical education,” she says, adding, “My teacher encouraged me to join in, but I didn’t have the courage .”Kwon’s quiet nature didn’t change when he went to middle school and high school. Working as a web designer, Kwon’s life changed when she met her boyfriend, Choi Won-geun.”He works in wheelchair repair, and we started dating eight years ago while repairing wheelchairs,” she says. “He encouraged me to play wheelchair rugby with him, and that’s how I got into Para sports.” After falling in love with the sport, Kwon tried other sports and found her aptitude for badminton.

Kwon’s life took a 180-degree turn: he became one of the top Para badminton players in South Korea, and his horizons expanded to the world. “When I was in school with Kim, I never thought I would be competing in the Paralympics,” he says, “and I think, ‘How nice it would have been if I had been involved in sports at a younger age.’ “”I would like to encourage more children with disabilities to come out and be active without worrying about what others think,” he said, adding that “sport will change your life. “Kwon, a bronze medalist at the Hangzhou 2022 Para Asian Games, is eyeing two medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. “I’m aiming for bronze in singles and silver in women’s doubles. I will definitely win a medal,” he said. “After the Paris Paralympics, I’m going to propose to my boyfriend of eight years with my medal,” Kwon said, adding, “I’m going 토토사이트 to get married this year.” “I also want to meet (Kim) Yeon-ah one day,” she smiled.