Park Seong-soo, the archery national team coach for the Paris Olympics, found dead in a lodging facility in Cheongju

Park Seong-soo, the head coach of the Incheon Gyeyang District Office archery team who led the South Korean archery national team at the Paris Olympics, was found dead in a lodging facility in Cheongju.

According to the Korea Archery Association on the 27th, Coach Park was discovered dead around 9 AM at a lodging facility located in Sangdang-gu, Cheongju.

It has been confirmed that a colleague who found Coach Park's body reported it to the police, and authorities suspect that he died due to pre-existing health conditions.

Currently, Coach Park was staying in Cheongju to participate in the President's Cup university and corporate archery tournament being held at the Kim Su-nyeong Archery Range with his team from the Incheon Gyeyang District Office.

Police: "No signs of criminal activity… investigating the possibility of death due to health issues."

A police official stated, "As of now, there has been no evidence of external intrusion or trauma, and we believe that Coach Park has died due to health issues. We are currently investigating the exact circumstances."

Meanwhile, Coach Park Seong-soo participated as an athlete in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the team event and a silver medal in the individual event. In addition, he contributed to enhancing the status of South Korean archery by participating as the national team coach at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

He left a significant mark on the development of Korean archery as an Olympic medalist during his athlete days and as a coach. The news of his sudden passing has brought deep mourning within the archery community and the sports world, especially given his recent contributions to raising the international status of Korean archery as the national team coach at the Paris Olympics.

Image source: Park Seong-soo, Incheon Gyeyang District Office archery team coach / News1, News1