Ji-Sung Park named PyeongChang 2018 Ambassador

Korean football icon to promote next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 10 Aug 2017
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A man poses with the Olympic and Paralympic logos for PyeongChang 2018

South Korean footballer Ji-Sung Park has been named honourary ambassador for PyeongChang 2018

ⒸPyeongChang 2018
By PyeongChang 2018

https://www.paralympic.org/pyeongchang-2018"I am proud as an athlete and as a Korean to be supporting PyeongChang 2018 and am looking forward to watching a great event next year."

Global football star Ji-Sung Park has been announced as Honorary Ambassador for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at a special signing ceremony held in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

Park said: “My memories of representing South Korea at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games are very special to me, so I know the importance of the Winter Games for all the athletes preparing to take part in them. I am proud as an athlete and as a Korean to be supporting PyeongChang 2018 and am looking forward to watching a great event next year.”

The 36-year-old was in PyeongChang also to attend the yearly-2017 U-12 JS Football Cup, organized by Park’s non-profit foundation, JS Foundation.

PyeongChang 2018 President Lee Hee-Beom said: “It is an honour for PyeongChang 2018 to have Ji-Sung Park as an Honorary Ambassador. He is admired not only for his successes on the field, but also for the sportsmanship that he displayed throughout his impressive career. We hope that Park’s many fans will follow on in his footsteps and support the Games as well as all the competing athletes.”

Park was born in Goheung, South Jeolla Province in 1981 and is regarded as one of the most successful Asian footballers in history. He won 19 trophies in his career and was the first Asian footballer to win the UEFA Champions League title and the FIFA Club World Cup.

He began his professional career playing for Japan’s Kyoto Purple Sanga, before going on to play for the Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven, and England’s Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers.

Success for Park came not only for clubs but also for his country. As a member of the South Korean national team, he played 100 games and scored 13 goals. He was a key member of the squad which finished fourth at the 2002 World Cup.

Full story can be found on PyeongChang 2018’s website.