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 According to a national survey released last week, Manchester
United midfielder Park Ji-sung was
voted the top South Korean athlete of 2011. The popular footballer earned 57.6 percent of the votes.
Park Ji-sung was born on February 25, 1981. He plays as a midfielder
for English club Manchester United. He was also the captain of the Korean national team until his retirement from international football. He
made history by becoming the first Asian soccer player to have won
the Champions League trophy. He was also the first Asian to have played
in a final of the UEFA유럽축구연맹 Champions
League.
 As
a member of the Korean national team, Park scored 13 goals. He also
played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He
was captain during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The amazing athlete scored in
all three consecutive tournaments and became the
first South Korean and only second Asian player to achieve the feat. He retired from international
football after the 2011 Asian Cup, which was held in January 2011.
The national survey listed figure skater Kim Yu-na in
second. The figure skating queen, who previously held the number
one spot from 2007 to 2009, was
a close second with 55.9 percent. She was also the only female athlete in the top
10.
Gallup Korea conducted the poll late last year. It surveyed 1,728 Koreans at least 13 years of age.
The respondents were asked to
pick the top two athletes
of the year.
Swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who held the number one spot last year, came
in third place with 26 percent. In July 2011, he won his second career
world title in the men’s 400-meter freestyle in Shanghai.
 Baseball
slugger Lee Dae-ho and footballer
Park Chu-young were fourth and fifth, respectively. Lee left the
Lotte Giants in early December last year for the Orix Buffaloes in
Japan. Park, the captain of the national team, had a tremendous start to South
Korea’s 2014 World Cup Qualification campaign last year. He scored
five goals in three games.
Baseball players Park Chan-ho, Choo Shin-soo, and Lee Seung-yeop,
golfer Choi Kyoung-ju and footballer Ki Sung-yueng rounded out the
top 10. |
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