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Jang Mi-ran (40), Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is immersed in winter sports these days. This is because the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games will be held from January 19 to February 1 next year in Gangwon-do, including Pyeongchang-gun and Gangneung-si, with the participation of over 2,900 youth athletes aged 15 to 18 from over 70 countries around the world. This is the fourth competition in history and the first to be held outside of Europe.

On the 27th, the Olympic Sliding Center in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do. During her visit to inspect the facilities, Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran met Park Seo-hyun (15, Geoje Middle School), who is competing in the single-person luge event at the Winter Youth Olympics. When I asked him, “How much do you like luge?”, Park was happy and answered, “I fell in love with luge after watching the Beijing Olympics, and I was selected as a representative and came up from Geoje to train.” A smile also spread on Vice Minister Jang’s face.

Vice Minister Jang is busy inspecting the site and welcoming guests, saying, “When I was an athlete, I could just go anywhere in the world and lift a barbell, but now that I am preparing by sending out invitations all over the world, I can’t waste my time.” He must not tolerate even the slightest loophole in order to avoid repeating the 'Jamboree Nightmare'. This Youth Olympic Games will utilize the existing facilities used in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics by renovating and renovating them. We also completed two facility inspections with the international federations of each sport.

“Among the winter sports, short track was impressive. After I retired, I went to watch a game, and the sound of skate blades grinding on the ice awakened the tension I had forgotten. It's been a few years since I felt the feeling I get when applying magnesium carbonate powder before lifting weights, and I realized I was missing this tension. I briefly considered returning as a player. haha."

He gave this advice to Korean youth participating in this competition: “It’s a shame that when I was a junior player, I was more shy than I am now, so even when I went to world competitions, I stayed silent and focused only on the game. For today’s generation who are good at communication, wouldn’t this Olympics be a precious time to share emotions with friends from all over the world who are walking a similar path?” Unlike the adult Olympics, the Youth Olympics, which focuses on unity rather than competition, awards medals but does not separately tally rankings for each country.

For Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran, who took office last July, public service is a continuous process of learning. Vice Minister Jang said, “Even when I was in school (Yongin University’s Department of Physical Education), I asked myself countless times, ‘Am I a good teacher for children?’ But I must have felt terrible when I was appointed as Vice Minister.” He added, “When I was worried about ‘Will I be able to do a good job?’ “What I always believed in was the ‘power of repetition’ that I felt while lifting barbells countless times during my time as an athlete.” “I still have a lot of difficult things to do, but over the past four months, I think I’ve been gradually increasing the ‘weight of work’ by repeatedly doing my best to complete the tasks given to me every day. For this to happen, stamina must be the foundation so that the body and mind do not get tired even after numerous repetitions.”

Some people say they don't even want to look at the equipment they used once they take off their uniform, but Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran still loves barbells. He said that he still finds self-esteem by lifting weights at home for 1-2 hours, 2-3 times a week. “When I lose courage or hesitate about something, I recharge my confidence by doing the exercise I am best at. “Unlike when I was a player, where I had to fight against numbers such as records and weight, now I can do as much as I want, so it’s even more enjoyable.” Vice Minister Jang, who boasted of a back squat of 275kg and a deadlift of 245kg during his active years, laughed and said, “I don’t lift more than 100kg now, considering my body.”

Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran said that she learned a positive attitude toward life through exercise. “It is not an exaggeration to say that I am a person of physical virtue these days, rather than a person of intellectual virtue,” he said. “I know the value of sports better than anyone else, so I felt sad whenever school sports activities were pushed to the back burner at the moment of choice.” He added, “We need to consult with the Ministry of Education.” “It is an issue that needs to be addressed, but we will focus our efforts on further revitalizing and regularizing school sports activities,” he said.

“You don’t know unless you experience it. Not everyone may like sports, but they should be given ample opportunities to enjoy the sport. “It is the government’s job to secure that time.”

We are also concerned about the status of Korean elite sports, which has been pointed out in conjunction with the recent slump in ball games. “To lay the foundation for sustainable elite sports, we need to strengthen support for school athletics departments and improve the treatment of leaders. The idea of ​​moving away from ‘gold medal supremacy’ may seem plausible, but I think there is a problem with the culture of disparaging the hard work to win a gold medal and considering all results equally.” Vice Minister Jang said, “It is good to say that players are students who study, but it can also lead to the downgrading of even talented players.” He added, “We need to focus on helping them continue to do well in what they are good at, and filling in if they are lacking something.”