Heartwarming video: North and South Korean athletes UNITED by Chinese gold medal winner at Paris Olympics
Team China won the gold medal in the Mixed Doubles Table Tennis event at the Paris Olympics.
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Chinese Gold Medalist convinces North Korean and South Korean athletes to take a selfie together (via @nbcsport/YouTube and @clutchpoints/X)
The Olympics are the greatest test of athleticism and sports in the world. However, above all, the event is a true display of sportsmanship. A very wholesome moment occurred after the Mixed Table Tennis event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, as a Chinese Gold Medallist brought together two athletes from the rival nations of South Korea and North Korea.
The Mixed Doubles Table Tennis event at the Paris Olympics concluded with China, North Korea, and South Korea winning the gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. However, what happened after the match was truly something to behold. South Korean Lim Jong-hoon whipped out his phone to take a selfie on the occasion.
The South Korean was initially taking a photo with his teammate, Shin Yu-bin, and Chinese gold medalist Wang Chuqin. However, the 24-year-old signaled to him that they should take a picture with all six athletes present on the podium.
Jonghoon obliged and went over to the other side of the podium to get a clearer shot. The athletes took a selfie with their prizes and medals in hand. The audience burst out in applause as soon as they saw this wholesome moment take place, and the athletes have received a lot of love on social media since.
Olympic fans were elated to see wholesome moment of solidarity between athletes from North Korea and South Korea
Olympics fans were elated to see the role played by sports in bringing people together. These athletes had all equally worked hard to get where they were and shared the same emotions through their victories and defeats. Fans of the event believe that at the end of the day, the Olympic games should bring people together.
Netizens showered praise upon the Chinese athlete for his efforts to show solidarity between the players and bring them together. Although he was not directly involved in the matter, he did his best to bring about peace and harmony. Additionally, there was some worry shown by fans for the athletes involved as they didn’t want them to face punishment at home for embracing athletes of a rival nation. Here are some of the reactions:
Fans pointed out how these countries had gone through multiple phases of both harmony and discord. In fact, the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang featured athletes from the two countries marching together as one. They even formed a unified team to compete in the women’s Ice Hockey competition.
Things eventually fell through once again prior to the Tokyo Olympics, and plans for a unified team were dropped again. Although the Korean War ended in 1953, no peace treaty was ever signed. The countries are technically still at war and there remains a lot of tension between the two nations.
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Mokshit Batra
(1409 Articles Published)