"장애인과 비장애인의 조합" 탠덤사이클 [주말엔] / KBS 2024.11.02.

■ Do you know about 'Tandem Cycling'? 'Tandem' means 'to arrange side by side, front and back.' 'Tandem cycling' refers to a two-seater bicycle ridden by two people sitting side by side, front and back, or the competition itself. In Parasports, 'Tandem Cycling' is a cycling discipline for the visually impaired. A non-disabled athlete sits in the front, and a visually impaired athlete sits 'side by side' behind to ride the bicycle. The non-disabled athlete sitting in the front is called the 'Pilot.' Acting as the visually impaired athlete's 'eyes,' they monitor the riding environment, manipulate the handlebars and gear ratios, and take charge of the overall race management. The propulsion that moves the bicycle comes from the simultaneous pedaling of the two athletes working together. ■ Triple Crown Winner at Hangzhou Asian Para Games and National Para Games At the 44th National Para Games, which concluded last Wednesday, athlete Kim Jeong-bin (Gyeonggi Para Cycling Federation, Sports Class B) won the gold medal in the 'Men's Track Individual Pursuit Tandem B' event, breaking the Korean record with a time of 4 minutes 27.945 seconds. He also crossed the finish line in first place in the 91km individual road race and the 28km individual road time trial, securing a triple crown in tandem cycling. Behind visually impaired cyclist Kim Jeong-bin was always athlete Yoon Jung-heon (Gyeonggi Para Cycling Federation, non-disabled). Yoon Jung-heon, an active firefighter, is also an amateur cyclist known as the "strongest amateur." The two athletes rewrote the history of Para-cycling in South Korea by winning three gold medals in tandem cycling (track, road, and time trial) together at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games held last year. How did these two athletes, who are teammates and the same age born in 1991, come to ride bicycles 'together'? And what dreams are they pursuing as they pedal 'together'? One day, ahead of the National Para Games, we met the two athletes while they were training on the track at the indoor velodrome in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province. ■ Dreaming of becoming athletes active on the world stage Athlete Kim Jeong-bin, who had suffered from night blindness since childhood, was diagnosed with 'retinitis pigmentosa' around the time he entered middle school. Retinitis pigmentosa is a progressive disease in which pigment proteins accumulate in the retina, gradually narrowing the field of vision; it is an incurable disease that is difficult to treat. "I learned about my condition, retinitis pigmentosa, when I was in middle school, and it worsened rapidly from my senior year of high school until around my early twenties. Now, I can see light, but you can think of it as objects appearing as if they are strongly mosaicked." Athlete Kim Jeong-bin - The first sport Kim Jeong-bin took up was 'Showdown,' a ball game for the visually impaired. After going through cross-country, biathlon, and weightlifting, he started tandem cycling in 2016 and was selected as a national team member starting in 2018. "I had memories of riding a bicycle when I was young, and I looked into Para-cycling because I wanted to step onto a big stage. I found out that cycling is a sport that allows participation in the Asian Games and the Olympics. I think I have run this race until now dreaming of becoming an athlete who can excel on the world stage." - Athlete Kim Jeong-bin - ■ From 'The Strongest Amateur' to 'National Team Member' Yoon Joong-heon, who was known as the "strongest amateur" for winning numerous awards in amateur cycling competitions, discovered tandem cycling through a recommendation from a fellow amateur cyclist. "Park Chan-jong, a long-time acquaintance of mine, suffered a leg amputation accident two years ago and immediately started para-cycling afterward. He recommended that I participate in the discipline of 'tandem' in para-cycling and that it offered an opportunity to donate my talent. I felt it was truly a grateful thing to be able to use my talent for someone else, so I am currently serving as a pilot." - Athlete Yoon Joong-heon - A 'pilot' in tandem cycling is a 'competition partner,' similar to a 'guide runner' for visually impaired track and field or ski athletes. Although they compete alongside national para-athletes to achieve results, they are not recognized as national team members under the National Sports Promotion Act. Even if they win medals together at international competitions, they cannot receive government pensions. This is why the expression "talent donation" is used to describe the racing partner. Athlete Yoon Joong-heon currently works as a firefighter at the Namyangju Fire Station in Gyeonggi Province. He carves out time off from work to meet with Athlete Kim Jeong-bin to ride a "tandem" together. On days they cannot meet, he improves his skills through individual training. Generally, many pilots in tandem cycling are former professional track cyclists. It is a rar...