Every sport is a mystery! Some - to a greater extent, some - to a lesser extent. An ordinary viewer sees only what the TV screen presents to him, namely a competitive picture. However, few people know what intrigues weave in backroom games. One of these intrigues has been worrying the masses of the Russian Federation for several months now. "What one?" - you ask. About it below.
How Victor An opened a short track for Russia
Until recently, the Russian audience did not suspect such a sport as a short track.
It was only the light of the Olympics that opened it for our people, and with it, perhaps, the main Sochi mystery was added - the question of why Victor An changed his citizenship, why he stands for Russia. As you understand, the cover of mystery is associated with the hero of the 2014 Olympic Games, Viktor An, who brought the Russian team three golds. There are many assumptions, but to understand everything, first you need to know the whole history of the newly made Russian.
First steps in the world of sports
As an athlete, our hero took place as a citizen of South Korea. Back in 2002, a young, but therefore no less talented, guy looked after the then head coach of this Asian team at the Korean Short Track Championship among juniors. An Hyun-soo, namely such a name was given to our hero by his parents, already stood out among his peers, which attracted the attention of such a significant person. After winning the competition, the future absolute world champion was invited to the country's national short track team.
It is difficult to imagine what the coach was guided by - a proven flair or an inflated conceit of his own infallibility, but he insisted that Ahn Hyun-soo (Victor An), whose biography did not include a single race at the adult level, go to the Olympic Games in Salt Lake -City. Incredibly, an unknown sixteen-year-old boy took a place in the team, leaving, by the way, behind the silver medalist of the previous World Cup Olympics, only at the whim of the coach. It is unlikely that this is possible in the current realities. Be that as it may, the young Korean took part in his first games, where he managed to achieve 4th place at a distance of 1000 m.
Age of An Hyun Su
The heyday of Ahn Hyun-soo's career began literally from the next season and fell on 2003-2007. During this period, he became the absolute world champion five times in a row, simultaneously grabbing 11 gold medals of world championships, five silver and one bronze medal, which is hardly noticeable against such a background. It was truly his era that he once again proved at
the 2006 Olympics.
Predturinsky collisions
The trip to Italian Turin was preceded by a series of scandals in the Korean team related to patronage. The fact is that in South Korea there are strong inter-university conflicts, and in the national team, coaches often nominated the athlete from the higher education institution in which they teach themselves as a leader. At first, An Hyun-soo himself enjoyed such a privilege, because of which he fell out of favor with half of the team, and on the eve of the Turin Olympics, he was already on a kind of roadside, without the help of partners. But An did not put up with this state of affairs and, together with five other team members, accused the new head coach Yun Jae Men of manipulating the results. As a result, the scandal was hushed up, however, the national team leaders began to boycott frankly. Obviously, these events are the first seed of the answer to the question of why Victor An changed his citizenship. In general, with such a baggage of passions within the team, the athletes went to Turin.
Turin Triumph
The story of the feuds in the Korean national short track team was heard by everyone. And the more unexpected against this background was the absolute dominance of Ahn Hyun Su on the ice track of the Italian capital of the Olympic Games. The Korean athlete won three golds, sweeping away rivals from his path. A bronze medal at a distance of 500 meters became a good add-on. It was only a triumph of the Korean athlete.
A series of injuries and failures
Two years passed, An Hyun-soo swam on the waves of success, crushing rivals in the distance. But in a terrible moment, everything changed. At one of the trainings, An unsuccessfully entered into a bend, for which he paid a lot. Reckoning was a serious knee injury, several operations and two years of recovery. As a result, 2008 and part of 2009 were missed, and with them all the preparations for the Vancouver Olympic Games. However, the future citizen Viktor An, whose injury shocked the whole world, refused to give up. Before the qualifying start, there was nothing left, but he was determined to get in shape and show everything he was capable of.
Let the desire beat over the edge, but the miracle did not happen. The selection was finished in 9th place; Vancouver was lost. Further trouble followed one after another. Each of them, in its own way, explains why Victor An changed his citizenship and became a Russian.
The next significant fight in the schedule of the illustrious short-track player was the inter-Korean competition for the right to speak at the World Cup. However, here he was in wait for failure. In the preparation period, Ahn Hyun-soo (Victor Ahn), whose short track was a matter of his life, lost his team. I had to look for a new one, but I still could not find everything. As a result, in the conditions “without training”, An took only 5th place in the selection for the next world championship and again did not qualify for the top three. The former champion was on his knees, but did not intend to give up.
Russia Savior
After some time, a proposal was received from the Russian Federation of short track, according to which, with his consent, it would be Viktor An who became the leader of the national team. He, even after some thought, accepted citizenship and changed his real name Ahn Hyun-soo to all known to us Viktor An. Perhaps how happily this story ended, perhaps, no need to tell. One can only hope that with Victor An, the new pages of the Russian short track will be covered with even greater champion achievements.
Here it is, the life of Viktor An before arriving in Russia. As you can see, the question of why Victor An changed his citizenship is easily explained, because he had enough reasons to change the Korean flag to Russian. We can only wish him good luck and triumph at the Moscow World Cup.