Wrestling coach Kim Young-il (54) will coach the Thai wrestling national team in the new year.The Korea Wrestling Association announced on the 11th, “We will dispatch coach Kim Young-il to Thailand as part of the 2024 Sports Partner Program,” and “Coach Kim plans to focus on improving the skills of Thai athletes and discovering promising talent.”

After retiring as a player, coach Kim Young-il, a gold medalist at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, served as the secretary general of Samsung Life Sports, a broadcast commentator, and director of media policy at the Korea Wrestling Association. In March 2022, he joined the Thai national team as part of the Korea Sports Council’s sports development support project for developing countries. joined.Coach Kim Young-il, who went to Thailand alone, showed outstanding leadership despite the harsh environment. Coach Kim served as leader, scout, manager, and even sparring partner.He also led the Thai national team to participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held last year.

The association decided that Coach Kim was eligible for program support in 2024 because he judged that his activities were in line with the purpose of the project to support sports development in developing countries.Coach Kim said, “I have been focusing on basic training with Thai athletes,” and added, “My goal is to win a prize at the 6th Asian Indoor Martial Arts Competition to be held in Thailand in the new year.”The project to support sports development in developing countries is carried out with financial support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports 스포츠토토존 Promotion Foundation.