Recently, DKU students have been spreading Dankook’s’ name by reaching great achievements in the world of sports.
Ye-lim Kim (Freshman, Department of International Sports Studies) won her first ever Grand Prix event at the 2022-2023 ISU (International Skating Union) Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy on November 19th in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first time in 13 years that a Korean skater took the gold medal at the Grand Prix since Yuna Kim in 2009.
“I tried not to get my hopes too high for the free skate program, so I am grateful to have earned this invaluable victory,” said the young Korean skater who added that “[I] will improve my shortcomings to deliver a perfect performance in the finals.”
Meanwhile, on November 16th, the university football team scored a whopping four goals and took the champion position, beating Gimcheon University by 4 to 0 at the ‘2022 University Football U-League Finals’ held at the Gimcheon University field in North Gyeongsang province. It is the first victory cup for Dankook at the U-League in 13 years. Coming in first place for a second time, Dankook joins Yonsei University and Korea University as universities with the most championship titles.
Along with the winning prize of KRW 15 million, Dankook University also received individual awards in seven categories. Individual awards went to Gwang-hee Kim (Most Valuable Player, Junior), Seung-ho Park (Top Scorer, Freshman), Gyeong-tae Lee (Best Defender, Junior), Hyeon-sok Choi (Best Goalkeeper, Junior), Jae-seong Lee (Best Player, Freshman), Jong-gwan Park (Best Head Coach), and Il-hwan Bae (Best Coach).
Some of the football team’s other recent achievements include the National University Football Competition champion (2000) and runner-up (2009), U-League champion (2009) and runner-up (2014), Fall University Football Association Championship champion (2017) and runner-up (2013, 2019), KBSN Freshmen-Sophomore University Football Association Competition runner-up (2019), and the Korean National Sports Festival champion (2014, 2015), placing Dankook as a leading team in college football. In addition, there was also good news about Dankook alumni as Chul Hong (Daegu FC) and Sang-ho Na (FC Seoul) were placed on South Korea’s national football team roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
