(Reuters) – South Korea’s Olympic coach Kim Hyoung-ryul sought to remove any doubt over the fitness of top ranked Oh Sang-uk, claiming the sabre fencer has recovered from a bout of COVID-19 that sidelined him in March.
Kim confirmed the right-hander is back to peak fitness as he prepares to lead the team on an assault on the podium places at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“He’s already had his treatment, and he’s fully healthy,” the coach told Yonhap news agency. “He’s doing great now.”
Oh will compete in the individual sabre, which takes place on Saturday, before joining Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho next Wednesday in the team event.
Oh, currently the world’s No. 1 ranked sabre fencer, won the world indivudal and team titles in Budapest in 2019 while Gu and Kim Jung-hwan were members of the Olympic gold medal-winning South Korean team in 2012.
With that pedigree, the Koreans are among the favourites for the gold medal in Tokyo and coach Kim is confident his team have done the groundwork necessary to be successful.
“We came here all prepared,” he said.
“For the final few days before the competition, it will come down to repeating what we’ve been practicing.”
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
