Italian sport in mourning, taekwondo master Park Young Ghil dies

Italian sport and in particular the world of taekwondo bid farewell to Park Young Ghil. The honorary president of Fita, the Italian federation, passed away in Rome, which had now become “his” city, just as Italy had become “his”, the country to which he was sent way back in 1966 with a precise mission: to learn and grow taekwondo. What this sport has become in Italy today, among the reference countries on a global level, is mainly due to him, Fita underlines today. «He was the master of Italian taekwondo – says Angelo Cito, president of federtaekwondo – but above all he was an extraordinary, good person with incredible humanity. On a sporting level, it has allowed us to be what we are today. Among the most successful Italian technical directors of all time, between the 70s and 2000 he won an infinite number of titles for Italy. All of us were his students. He passed on his knowledge and values ​​to us. Our world and all of sport have lost a man, an extraordinary master. I am a second father.” In Korea, before leaving, Park Young Ghil had undergone extremely hard training, to learn dozens of forms and perfect his fighting techniques. What he would then have to pass on to young Italians. A mission for which, at the time, that garage was also suitable, which became the first gym in the capital. At the height of his Italian journey, as director of Italy he prepared the Azzurri in Seoul ’88, the first edition of taekwondo in the demonstration form, and it was an immediate success, with two silvers and two bronzes. Then in Barcelona ’92 a silver and two bronzes. In Sydney 2000, the first official taekwondo Olympics, and Park Young Ghil fielded the young Claudio Nolano, now the national coach.