IS IT wise to honour an active athlete? Like naming him after a venue.
Certainly not.
The South Koreans honoured their greatest swimmer Park Tae-hwan by naming the 17th Asiad swimming venue – the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Centre – after him.
Now, that’s a millstone around the neck. South Koreans and Marine Boy, Tae-hwan’s sobriquet, found that out on Sunday.
The 24-year-old is a superstar of superstars in South Korea. After all, he was the first to deliver his country’s first swimming gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he won the men’s 400m freestyle. He also clinched a silver in the 200m freestyle. He is also a two-time world champion and a winner of six Asiad golds.
With such strong credentials, the South Koreans were banking on him in their bid to break China’s strangehold on the overall title.
So on Sunday, his fans were banking on him to deliver his third straight 200m freestyle gold.
Tickets were sold out way before the final and the arena was packed to the rafters. Millions more were glued to their TVs at home.
It was a must-see event at the Games as another superstar, Sun Yang of China, was involved.
Surprise, surprise. Both Tae-hwan and Sun Yang lost. Kosuke Hagino of Japan touched home first with Sun Yang second. Tae-hwan finished a disappointing third.
After the race, the 24-year-old Tae-hwan admitted that he was burdened by his country’s massive expectations on him. “I was quite nervous even before the race began since it is being held in South Korea,” he said.
He added: “I think I felt a lot of weight on my shoulders, especially about swimming in the arena named after me.”
There was more pain for Tae-hwan and South Koreans on Tuesday. This time, it was the same threesome – Sun Yang, Hagino and Tae-hwan – battling for the 400m freestyle gold. Again, Tae-hwan lost as he could only finish third. Sun Yang emerged champion with Hagino second.
Even Michael Bohl, his Australian coach, admitted that Tae-hwan is struggling under the weight of the nation’s expectations.
“Most of the international meets he had swum at had been overseas,” Bohl said. “It’s different being in your home town and racing in a pool named after you.”
There. The South Koreans are now paying for their folly.
Tae-hwan still has a number of events, including the 1,500m freestyle showdown with Sun Yang. To date, he has only three bronzes to show.
But then, the Koreans are not the first to have made this mistake.
Leave it to Malaysia to lead the way.
World No. 1 squash star Nicol David was gunning for her eighth world title in the Women’s World Championships at the – yes, you guessed it – Nicol David International Squash Centre in Penang in March.
And what happened? She lost to Nour El Sherbini in the semi-finals.
The massive expectations of the Malaysian public was too heavy a burden for her to carry.
Let’s hope others have learned a lesson here: Never name a venue or building after an active athlete.
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