A pioneer who won a silver medal in wrestling at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and former head of the Taereung Athletes’ Village, Jang Chang-seon, 83 years old, passed away on the 20th.
The late Jang was a living legend of South Korean wrestling. He won a silver medal at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games, a silver medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and became the first South Korean athlete to win a gold medal at the 1966 Toledo, Ohio, World Wrestling Championships.
After retiring from active competition, he served as a national team coach, executive director and vice president of the Korea Wrestling Association, and head of the Taereung Athletes’ Village, dedicating himself to nurturing future athletes and advancing South Korean sports.
He notably played a pivotal role in establishing overseas training systems and operational foundations for the Taereung Athletes’ Village, and contributed to laying the groundwork for the sports pension (Performance Enhancement Research Pension) system. He also served as a member of the Incheon Asian Games 2014 bidding committee and an executive member of the organising committee.
The late Jang received the Presidential Citation (1964, 1994), the Korea Sports Award (1965), and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Korean Sports Hero selected by the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee in 2014.
The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee plans to hold a state funeral in his honour. Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, said, “The late Jang was the first South Korean to win a world championship gold medal, pioneering a new history for Korean sports. We will long remember and inherit his noble spirit and achievements, dedicated to the nation and sports development throughout his life.”
