South Korean swimming stars Park Tae-hwan and An Se-hyeon were named honorary ambassadors for the 2019 world championships Wednesday.
The organizing committee for the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships, which take place in Gwangju, 350 kilometers south of Seoul, unveiled Park and An as their goodwill ambassadors.
Park is the only South Korean swimmer to win an Olympic medal. He captured the 400-meter freestyle gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver in the 200m freestyle. Four years later in London, Park won silver medals in the same events.
Park also won the world titles in the 400m freestyle in 2007 and 2011. At this year’s event — held in Budapest in July — Park ranked fourth in the 400m, eighth in the 200m and ninth in the 1,500m.
“It’s a privilege to be an honorary ambassador for the world championships held in my home country,” Park said. “I’ll try to ensure the success of this competition.”
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