Yoo Seung Min, chairman of the Korea Sports Association, advised young people to "focus on maximizing their strengths rather than supplementing shortcomings."
On the 28th, the 'MBNY Forum', a mentoring festival for young people in their 20s and 30s, was held at Hwajeong Gymnasium in Korea University. The "MBNY Forum" contains the vision of young people in their 20s and 30s to expand around the world, find a way for individual and national prosperity, and create a hopeful world together. The theme of this year's 'MBNY Forum' is 'Paint your Colors!'
Speakers' lectures were held this afternoon. Song So-hee's performance was held as the opening. Since then, lectures have been given by the chairman of the Korea Sports Association Yoo Seung Min, mixed martial arts fighter Choo Sung-hoon, YouTuber Shim Eutteum, "Red Helicopter" founder James Lee, group LeSeraphim Heo Yoon-jin, YouTuber Mimi Minu, deputy Kang Ha-young of the SNS team of the Korea Railroad Corporation, YouTube channel Ttip Yoon Tae-yong, Kim Kyu-nam and Yoon Hyuk-jun.
Chairman Yoo Seung Min said, "I was a genius when I was young." "Since the sixth grade of elementary school, not a single set has been taken away. When I was in my third year of middle school, I became a national player for the first time and participated in mega events and world championships."
He said, "When I was young, I was nicknamed 'table tennis prodigy'. The pressure of the nickname was too great. I never thought I was a ping pong prodigy. At that time, I never thought about it, and I thought I was winning because I invested a little more time in competition with my peers," he added.
Chairman Yoo also said, "There is something unique about the characters of successful people. There is the so-called 'smart'. He said, "I was one of the people who was obsessed with losing, and I wasn't as good as a prodigy."
"There have been two slumps. The Olympics is the ultimate goal for all athletes. I have this goal: 'I have to win a gold medal at the Olympics, I have to show a great side of myself.' It was the same for me. I was the youngest national team member with all the attention, but due to the pressure of the stage, I failed to win a medal without showing 50% of the process I prepared hard. That's why I had a slump, he said. "I thought you were a prodigy around you, but they said there wasn't much. I, who has only been praised, said, "I had a slump when I said, "He's nothing."
He said, "At that time, there was a problem in Korea, so I couldn't play on the domestic stage for a year. When I was a senior in high school, I went to Germany to study table tennis. I regretted it every morning. I called my parents and complained," he said, referring to the difficult time.
Yoo achieved the feat of winning a gold medal at the Athens Olympics. Chairman Yoo said, "It was an honor and I felt like I had achieved everything. It was a dream stage," he recalled. "I've been first, second, third, and fourth in the Olympics. Many people say, "Chairman Yoo only walked on flowery paths," but this is not the case. Even though you are now in a gravel field, aren't you trying to walk on a flower path (I was, too)."
Finally, "the shortcomings are not completely compensated for. So I thought, 'It is important to acknowledge the disadvantages and to highlight and maximize the strengths.' So I won the Olympic gold medal by maximizing my strengths. The advantages you have are the advantages that no one has, but the disadvantages can be the disadvantages that everyone has. Spend a lot of time highlighting your strengths. If I think about it more sincerely, one more hour, I think I will be able to achieve my goals and flower paths enough," he said.
Marking its 15th anniversary this year, the MBNY Forum is an annual youth mentoring festival held to deliver dreams and inspiration to the 2030 generation, the younger generation, who will lead the future of Korea. It is a unique festival venue where you can communicate, enjoy, and learn together, and it is composed of various events such as archery, bicycle staffer, mini curling, speed putting, and golf putting so that you can enjoy competition and cooperation at the same time and naturally develop a sense of community. It aims to move the body and mind together, discover their own unique colors, and share the journey of coloring the world.
[Soyeon Kim Star Today Reporter]
