Coach reveals secret behind Hwang Seo-hyeon's Asian Games gold

NAGOYA — Incheon Physical Education High School coach Jin Gyu-tae, who trains Hwang Seo-hyeon, a 17-year-old gymnast, smiled as he reflected on his student's gold medal in an interview with Hankook Ilbo on Sunday, saying it was likely the result of “her genuine love for the balance beam since childhood.” Jin, who watched Hwang's “golden performance” at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan offered a measured assessment, acknowledging that “luck also played a part.” Still, he expressed hope that she could contend for an Olympic medal in two years if she avoided injuries and improved her jumps. Hwang topped the women's balance beam final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday at Rainbow Hall in Nagoya, scoring 14.700 points — 6.600 in difficulty and 8.100 in execution. She became the first Korean gymnast to win an Asian Games gold medal on the balance beam in 40 years, since Seo Seon-aeng at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. Her victory followed Yeo Seo-jeong's gold in the women's vault the previous day, giving Korea another gold medal in artistic gymnastics. Her confident perfo