Son Yeon-jae arrives in Rio to realize her Olympic dream

Seventeen years of painstaking efforts have been made only for six minutes.

Korean gymnast Son Yeon-jae has arrived in Rio de Janeiro, “land of dream,” on Monday after training in Sao Paulo to win Korea’s first Olympic medal in rhythmic gymnastics (ball, hoop, clubs and ribbon). Each routine takes an average of 90 seconds for rhythmic gymnastics. However, a total of six minutes in Rio would be the climax of Son’s 17-year career.

The 22-year-old gymnast was ranked 32nd in her senior debut at the 2010 World Championships. However, she did not give up and challenged herself by joining Russia’s Novogorsk Training Center filled with the world’s best rhythmic gymnasts. The competition was fierce in the center where the players had to line up in the order of performance records even for ballet warm-up. Son, who started at the end of the line, has endured hard training (over 10 hours a day) for six years. Eventually, she could move up to the front.

Son shook her head without hesitation when asked whether she wants to be a rhythmic gymnast if she were reborn. However, she said that the dream of Olympic medal has made her happy.

임보미기자 bom@donga.com