ROME (ITALPRESS) – Italian sports, and in particular the world of taekwondo, bid farewell to Park Young Ghil. He passed away in Rome, which had become “his” city. As “his” had become Italy, the country to which he was sent back in 1966 with a specific mission: to make Taekwondo known and grow. What the sport has become in Italy today – among the world’s benchmark countries – is due above all to him. First Naples. Then Puglia, Calabria and Rome. In Korea, before leaving, he had undergone extremely hard training, learning dozens of forms and perfecting fighting techniques. What he was then to pass on to young Italians. Mission for which, at the time, even that garage, which became the first “gym” in the capital, was suitable.
Park Young Ghil was much more than a Master, a Technical Director, an Honorary President. He was the one who, “sowed” taekwondo in our country. With passion, care and, above all, respect. It was something he immediately conveyed to those who had the pleasure of shaking his hand. A smile, the head tilted forward as a sign of respect, the desire to listen on par with that of telling. A life rich in sports and non-sports anecdotes. A life rich above all in successes: he had opened many gyms, particularly in the center and south of an Italy he grew to love as the years went by. Even to the point of donning the blue of the national team, as Technical Director. He considered it a great honor and equally great was the commitment he put into raising the first “azzurri.” He prepared them for the first Olympics where taekwondo debuted as a demonstration sport. In 1988 in Korea, where he came from, the home of taekwondo, it was an immediate success. Two silver and two bronze medals. Then in 1992 in Barcelona, three medals (one silver and two bronze).
In Sydney in 2000, the first official Olympics for Taekwondo, Park fielded among others the young Claudio Nolano, now Technical Director of so many Italian successes. Nolano, who now remembers him with great sorrow. So does President Angelo Cito, also present at the Australian Games, in his new managerial experience, young Secretary of the newly formed Fita. “He was the Master of Italian Taekwondo,” says Cito, “but above all he was an extraordinary person, good and with an incredible humanity. On the sporting level, he allowed us to be what we are today. Among the most successful Italian Technical Directors ever, between the 1970s and 2000s he won countless titles for Italy. All of us were his students. He passed on his knowledge and values to us. Our world and all of sport have lost a man, an extraordinary teacher. I a second father.”
Park Young Ghil’s presence was never missed. He continued, even holding the position of honorary president, to go around Italy, to follow thousands of boys and, above all, to whom he gave valuable advice. His smile represented an important comfort and a kind of blessing. So until the last national assembly, just a month ago in Rome.
– photo Fita press office –
(ITALPRESS).
Park Young Ghil passes away, Italian Taekwondo loses its master
