Kim Do-jun, the coach of men's high jump star Woo Sang-hyuk, was awarded the Asian Athletics Federation Best Coach Award

Kim Do-jun, coach of South Korea's Yongin City Hall and coach of the Korean track and field vertical jumping team, who helped men's high jumper Woo Sang-hyuk make a leap, won the "Asian Athletics Federation Best Coach Award". The Asian Athletics Federation held a pre-competition dinner event for the 2025 Gumi Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, South Korea on the 25th local time, and presented the best athletes, coaches and administrators awards.

Coach Woo Sang-hyuk and Kim Do-kyun

Last year's gold medal at the Paris Olympics was won by men's javelin thrower Ashad Nadim (Pakistan) and women's javelin throwerNorth mouth hazelnut(Japan) won the Best Player Award. Coach Kim Do-kyun, who led Woo Sang-hyuk to become the world's top men's high jumper, was named the best coach.

After winning silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Woo Sang-hyuk fell into a slump, stagnating his record, suffered a fracture of fatigue, and even failed to compete at the 2019 World Championships in London. Kim Do-kyun, coach of the Korean track and field vertical jumping team, extended his hand to Woo Sang-hyuk, who was in a frustration.

Woo Sang-hyuk said, "I met the coach when I was really tired. When I didn't believe me either, the coach said, 'Sanghyuk, you can do more'. In an hour with the coach, I believed in the 'results of the training' and 'myself'. Coach Kim Do-gyun formulated a medium- to long-term plan to "accumulate solid strength even if there is no record at the moment" and gave advice to Woo Sang-hyuk.

Woo Sang-hyuk finished fourth at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics (2.35m) and became a world-class men's high jumper, and achieved the feat of 2022 World Indoor Championships (2.34m), 2nd place at the Outdoor World Championships (2.35m), 2023 Diamond League Finals (2.35m), and 2025 World Indoor Championships (2.31m). Woo Sang-hyuk will also challenge for the men's high jump title at the 2025 Gumi Asian Athletics Championships, which opens on the 27th of this month.