Former rhythmic gymnastics national team member Son Yeon-jae (31), a representative of Reap Studio, has been registered as a new director of the Korea Gymnastics Association.
According to the Korea Gymnastics Association on the 6th, Representative Son has been registered as a new director of the newly formed executive body of the association. The association appointed new executives including Nam Seung-gu, the senior vice president, Kim Ji-young, the vice president, and Yeo Hong-cheol, the executive director, along with Son Yeon-jae on the 26th of last month during a board meeting, followed by approval from President Jeon Jung-sun.
Representative Son was the first Korean rhythmic gymnast to reach the Olympic finals, participating in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. At the London Games, she ranked 5th in the individual all-around, and at the Rio Games, she achieved a record tie for the best-ever Asian result with a 4th place finish. Additionally, she earned a bronze medal in the individual all-around at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and a gold medal in the individual all-around at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. After retiring from competition in 2017, she established a studio for rhythmic gymnastics education and is currently active in that field.
The effort to appoint Representative Son Yeon-jae as a director of the Korea Gymnastics Association was led by Yeo Hong-cheol, the former executive director of the association, who is also well-known as the father of athlete Yeo Seo-jung (Jecheon City Hall) and was originally called the "Emperor of the Pommel Horse." Representative Son is expected to propose various opinions for discovering talent and expanding the community in the institutional sector of rhythmic gymnastics as a director of the association.