There’s an athlete who has a “gold medal reservation” for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. He’s unrivaled in the sport. But it’s a familiar face. If you’re a regular viewer of TV entertainment programs, you’ll recognize his name: Cho Won-woo (29, Haeundae-gu Office), a Korean sailor.

He finished first in both the 13th and 14th races of the men’s windsurfing RS:X class at the Xiangshan Sailing Center in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China, on Saturday. He also finished first in the 11th and 12th races the day before, clinching the gold medal early. It is the first gold medal for South Korea in the water event. The awards ceremony will be held on the 27th.

Cho Won-woo had a flawless performance in the event to take a commanding first place. After placing second in the 10th race, he finished first in all 13 races, earning the ‘wall of fire’ gold medal. He also had the fewest penalties of any competitor with 13 points after the 12th race. Her second place finish was so close that she didn’t even have to sit out the final day of competition.

In sailing, the penalty for missing one race is seven points. If a sailor misses both of the remaining races of the day, the penalty is 14 points, but one race can be excluded from the final score, meaning the penalty for missing both races is only 7 points, which when added to the existing penalty (13 points), results in a total penalty of 20 points. As of Race 12, Thailand’s Natapong Ponopparat was in second place with a total of 27 penalty points, making it impossible for him to overtake Cho Won-woo.

The driving force behind Jo Won-woo’s dominant performance is the JTBC entertainment program “Muncha Chanda (Munchan) Season 2,” which he appeared in for more than two years. Cho Won-woo said that he was always encouraged by people around him, saying, “It was good to be on Munchan.” In 2021, Cho Won-woo auditioned for the show in front of “Munchan” director Lee Dong-hwan and coach Lee Dong-guk. He got high marks for playing soccer in elementary school.

At the time, Cho Won-woo said, “I want to promote the sport of sailing in Korea.” Two years later, viewers have come to associate Jo Won-woo with sailing, and his efforts to spread the sport have been significant. In an interview with the media, Jo Won-woo shared his thoughts on winning the gold medal, saying, “I was really encouraged by the amount of people who recognized me through Munchan.”

Cho Won-woo regretted not being able to appear on “Munchan” because he was focused on training for the Hangzhou Asian Games. He also wanted to repay the love he received from “Munchan” by training for sailing and soccer at the same time. The gold medal in sailing was the result. 스포츠토토

A representative from ‘Munchan’ said, “While ‘Munchan’ is led by former and current national team members who have shined in Korea, Jo Won-woo was very disappointed if he couldn’t appear on the show before the international competition.” “He has a lot of love for the show, so he always tried to participate, and as more people recognized him, he seemed to feel a sense of responsibility.”

On “Munchan,” Cho Won-woo revealed that he lost weight because he switched to sailing. The RS:X class is a standing windsurfing race,