Article at a GlanceAt the 2024 Paris Olympics, the governance of sports associations drew significant attention. The Hyundai Group, leading the Korea Archery Association, adopted a two-track model, engaging in management while leaving the actual training and development of athletes to archery professionals. Simultaneously, the group spared no effort in resolving on-site issues, such as improving training environments. Notably, national team members were selected solely based on merit, regardless of their university or regional background. SKT, as the chair company of the Korean Fencing Federation, focused on internationalization. It provided opportunities for Korean athletes to actively compete against European players, traditionally dominating the sport, and developed a unique strategy known as “foot fencing.” The Korea Shooting Federation, which lost support from Hanwha, shifted its attention to data analysis, achieving remarkable results by enhancing its finals system to better replicate actual competition settings, thus emerging as a popular sport. Meanwhile, the Badminton Korea Association, relying on sponsorship agreements with equipment companies, achieved the historic milestone of a women’s singles gold medal after 28 years, backed by a substantial budget. However, limitations such as mandatory use of sponsor-provided gear, preventing athletes from choosing the most suitable equipment, and inefficient association operations were also revealed.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, held this past August, South Korea won 13 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals, ranking eighth overall. This marked a remarkable improvement compared to the six gold medals won at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, demonstrating significant progress in performance.
However, skepticism prevails about whether Team Korea’s high Olympic achievements can be consistently replicated. The results and athlete management capabilities varied greatly depending on which association led each sport at this Olympics. For instance, the national archery team, supported by Hyundai Motor Group, dominated five events, while badminton gold medalist Ahn Se-young revealed corruption within the badminton association during a press conference.
In this context, it is crucial to examine the differences in the operational methods of each association. Fundamentally, these differences stem from the governance structure of sports associations. Governance encompasses not only the leadership and organizational management of an association's executives but also how effectively the voices of athletes and coaching staff are reflected in operations. From this perspective, let us explore the governance demonstrated by the associations of archery, fencing, shooting, and badminton, to understand the secrets behind achieving outstanding results while fostering satisfaction among members.
