Take Off: Kisah atlit Ski Jumping Korea (film Korea)

Kemaren baru dapet satu pesenan film Korea yang berjudul ‘Take Off’, yang ceritanya terinspirasi dari kisah nyata tim nasional Ski Jumping korea. Meskipun fiktif, tetapi ceritanya masih mencerminkan perjuangan mereka dari yang namanya tim yang bener-bener dadakan hingga jadi tim profesional meskipun miskin dana.

Cast: 

Ha Jeong-woo sebagai Bob (Cha Heon-tae)

Seong Dong-il sebagai Bong Jong-sam

Kim Dong-wook sebagai Choi Heung-cheol

Kim Ji-sook sebagai Kang Chil-goo

Choi Jae-hwan sebagai Ma Jae-bok

Lee Jae-eung sebagai Kang Bong-gu

Sinopsis:

Tahun 1996, Korea di Muju, provinsi Jeollabuk-do dengan sangat terburu-buru merekrut orang untuk dijadikan atlit nasional ski jumping, hal itu mereka lakukan karena sudah mengajukan proposal untuk menjadi tuan rumah Olimpiade Musim Dingin.

Dan Bong Jong-sam yang biasanya hanya mengajar anak kecil bermain ski ditunjuk jadi pelatihnya kemudian dia merekrut anak-anak muda yang tidak tahu bagaimana dan apa itu ski jumping?

Latihan awal yang tidak bagus ketika mengetahui bahwa Bang Jong-Sam tidak tahu bagaimana mengeja “ski” dan bahwa Korea kenyataannya tidak mempunyai lereng untuk main ski.

Tanpa ragu, Pelatih Bang, muncul dengan berbagai cara-cara inovatif dan menyenangkan untuk melatih, seperti melayang di udara digantung diatas pohon, berlatih ski dengan posisi melompat di atas sebuah mobil yang melaju dengan kecepatan 90km / h, dan bahkan mempertaruhkan hidup mereka dengan melompat di trek roller-coster sebuah taman bermain yang terbengkalai.

Tim nasional ini terdiri dari mantan pemain ski Alpine Bob yang mencari ibu kandungnya di Korea, mantan junkies yang bekerja di bar, pewaris restoran bulgogi, dan yang terakhir adalah seorang pemuda tulang punggung keluarga untuk menghidupi adiknya yang terbelakang dan juga neneknya yang sudah tua.

Setelah berhasil mengatasi berbagai kendala, tim Korea dikirim ke Oberstdorf untuk mengikuti Olimpiade Ski-Jumping dan akhirnya mereka berhasil lolos ke Olimpiade Musim Dingin, yang akan diadakan di Nagano. Namun, ketika Korea kehilangan tawaran untuk menyelenggarakan Olimpiade Musim Dingin, pembiayaan untuk tim ski jumping dipotong, dan tim yang mewakili impian dari Korea itu kini sedang dalam keadaan genting. Akankah tim ini yang beranggotaan orang-orang yang tidak dikenal, bukan ski jumper yang berpengalaman akan mampu mengatasi kendala terbesar mereka  dan menemukan kemuliaan di Olimpiade?

Film ini bener-bener bagus dan kocak bagi gue. From zero to hero!! Definitely worth seeing movie.

cred.freeta

Longer version cred.arirangworld

Ini atlit aslinya.

Korea’s Ski Jumpers Take Off

By Yoon Chul

Staff Reporter

Some athletes don’t get any attention from fans, even when the effort they’ve given and the results they’ve received are more than enough to deserve cheers. But even without the accolades, they still work hard and push themselves towards becoming a champion.
But for one group of athletes, that all changed when their life stories were made into a feature film that became a hit in Korea.

The Korean ski jumping team has consisted of the same four guys for over a decade. Kim Hyun-ki, Choi Heung-chul, Choi Yong-jik and Kang Chil-gu have been teammates and friends for years, and have emerged as a world force in the sport despite severe financial difficulties.

At the Universiade in Harbin, China last year, the Koreans won the team competition in the K-90 and Kim added another gold in the individual K-90 and a silver in the K-125 while Choi Heung-chul won bronze in the K-125.
The team made a breakthrough when they finished eighth in the team’s K-120 competition at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 and grabbed two gold medals and one silver at the Universiade in 2003. They also generated two silvers at the Universiade in 2007.
However, few people had heard of the Korean ski jumping team until the feature film “Take Off” became a big hit last year.

“We are very happy that we became more popular,” the team told The Korea Times.

“But it has also put tremendous stress on us ― we feel we need to get a good result at the Vancouver Olympics,” said Choi Heung-chul.

All four began ski jumping together when they were in elementary school, but all for different reasons.

When a ski resort was launched in Muju, the elementary school there started looking for future skiers, with the hopes that they would eventually star in an Olympic Games hosted in Korea.

“I started in 1991,” team captain Choi Heung-chul said. “When my older brother started doing it, I wanted to do it too.”
“In my case, I started because I wanted to make my body strong, because I was weak,” Kim said.
“When I started I was so scared that I would often cry. But as I achieved my goals I also felt excitement. And I became the athlete I am today.”
The four have gotten to know each other quite well, and they’ve been through some tough days together – when ski jumping was still virtually an unknown sport here.
“We have known each other since 1991,” Choi Heung-chul said.
“It’s been the same four guys, so Kang, even though he’s 25, is still the little brother. That’s the same age as the cross country team’s captain,” Choi Yong-jik said.
“So Kang has to do the stuff that the youngest guy has to do,” Yong-jik said with a smile.
They have struggled for many years with public indifference and a lack of support from the Korea Ski Association (KSA).
“We are national team members, but we had to get part-time jobs to maintain a living,” Kim said.

“We all lived close to each other and we all found part-time jobs together so we could earn money together.”

Even now, the team does not have a facility it can practice at every day in Korea. The country’s first ski jump facility in Muju was built to host the Olympics. However, it was poorly maintained and is now inadequate for practice. The latest venue, the Alpensia, was built in PyeongChang. However, because of the steep cost of operation, the team cannot practice there all the time.

Also, most teams don’t practice at the same jump for more than a week, because each jump around the world is a little different.

“If we spend more than one week at the same facility, our bodies get used to that venue’s details, such as the length of runway and the angle for takeoff,” Kim said.

“So the Europeans move around from venue to venue to practice. There are lots of facilities that are all close together in Europe.”

With a limited budget, the jumpers struggled to get adequate training.

Many other ski jumping teams have a coach for every athlete, video analysis equipment and a staff to do things like wax the skis and maintain the equipment. The Korean team has one coach and no support staff.

Fortunately, the High1 team stepped up to support the four national jumpers, signing Kim and Choi Heung-chul in 2008 and bringing in Choi Yong-jik and Kang last year.

The sponsor has done its best to send them abroad for training and to compete more often. And, thankfully, they don’t have to worry about money anymore.
“At first, when Choi Heung-chul and I signed contracts with High1, we felt guilty,” Kim said.

“We had all gone through the tough days together. But with two of us having a tough time, we felt guilty. But once all of us had joined the team we were all really happy.”
Although few teams in other nations have had to deal with the lack of funding that the Korean team has had to, the Asian country’s team still has managed to have success internationally, especially at the Universiade.

“Our mental strength is our biggest weapon,” Kim said. “We are the first generation of ski jumpers in Korea. We have to do well, have to build support, so the next generation will get more attention and more support.

“That’s why we practice more and more.”

“The spirit of the team is very strong,” Choi Yong-jik said. “If someone watches our training they may think we are just out there to have fun. But that’s how we’ve managed to stick together through tough circumstances and generated good results in team competitions.”

Unfortunately, Korea won’t be competing in the team event this time because Kang failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Despite some strong results in Salt Lake City in 2002, the team hasn’t shown it can compete with the strongest teams from Europe at the World Cup and the Olympics.
“The level between the World Cup and the Olympics and the Universiade is quite different,” Choi Heung-chul said.

“That’s why we are worried about these Olympics. We definitely hope to grab gold, and we will do our best, but the fans expect a lot. They could be disappointed if we don’t get an acceptable result,” the captain said.

“Other countries are selecting their athletes from a thousand jumpers. We only have four.”

Choi Yong-jik will go to the Olympics nursing an ankle injury that will eventually require surgery.

“Since I hurt my ankle it has been hard to get good balance,” Choi Yong-jik said. “It didn’t heal properly, so I support it with tape.”

Choi has a torn ligament and surgery will put him out of action for at least six months.
“If I have the surgery now, it means we won’t be able to compete in team events because there is no one to replace me,” he said.

The national team first competed at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998 but with the release of “Take Off” last year, domestic fans will be watching more closely than ever before.

“We have done our best to win a medal,” said Choi Heung-chul. “We hope fans recognize our effort, and not just focus on our results.

“Even if we don’t win a medal, we hope the fans will still support us.”
yc@koreatimes.co.kr

Mei signing off ~~


sumber : http://countingwayward.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/take-off-kisah-atlit-ski-jumping-korea/