Athletes expected to compete for Haesan at 2025 Olympiad
By Sports and Culture Correspondent Kim Chae-yeong
MUNSEONG, NAMHAE: The Haesanite Olympic Committee has announced that the first class of the much anticipated Idols to Athletes Programme (ITA Programme) will be debuting athletes to help bolster national teams ahead of the 2025 IDU Olympiad. The programme, sponsored by the Haesanite Olympic Committee, seeks to convert idol trainees with above average marks for strength and coordination but with a low chance of debuting into Olympic-caliber athletes with the aim of boosting the nation’s national teams, especially in gymnastics. Haesan did not medal in any gymnastics event at the 2023 Hanshui Games.
The ITA Programme was first proposed in 2018 by then-Minister of Culture and Tourism Sabrina Hwang. The first idol trainees were recruited in 2020, and most of the announced graduates were among the initial class or from that of the following year. By joining the programme, the former idol trainees had their education costs waived, gained access to teaching and schooling from Olympic-caliber coaches and the facilities at the Heasan Olympic Training Complex in Munseong, and received preferential treatment in the national team selection process.
The programme has received a positive reception from national coaches who appreciate the influx of young, talented, driven individuals into their sports, along with idol academies, which have long seen more demand for their seats than can reasonably be filled with debut-quality talent. The programme’s first graduation also nicely coincides with pending Olympic developments. If sports proposed by the Eirian Olympic Committee like artistic swimming and rhythmic gymnastics are to make it to the 2025 Games, coaches hope that the ITA programme will allow Haesan to instantly compete for medals in those events. Furthermore, given that the recently elected Suyang Mayor Kim Eun-ji (New Bargain) campaigned on a platform of elevating Suyang’s platform on a world stage, including a proposed bid for the 2025 Summer Olympics, the programme has provided the Olympic team with much needed depth in an area of weakness ahead of that expected bid.
