Don’t Call Them ‘Garlic Girls’: South Korean Curlers Become Olympic Rock Stars
South Korea's women's curling team celebrate after beating Russian athletes during their match at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Feb.21, 2018. The team known as the "Garlic Girls" came into the Pyeongchang Games as the underdog약자[약체]. Now they're No. 1 in the rankings.
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA —Forget Lindsey Vonn and Adam Rippon. The real rock stars of the Pyeongchang Olympics are a humble겸손한, 겸허한,소박한,(지위·능력 따위가) 천한, 낮은, 열등한; 초라한group of Korean curlers who have no idea they’ve become a global sensation센세이션[돌풍/선풍].
They are known as the “Garlic Girls,” the South Korean women’s curling team with the fairy-tale story동화같은/거짓말같은 이야기whose moniker별명reflects the locally famed garlic마늘grown in their hometown고향.
Never considered a medal contender(어떤 것을 두고 겨루는) 도전자[경쟁자]coming into Pyeongchang, they have risen to No. 1 in the rankings, earning worldwide attention for their fierce talent and funny personalities.
And yet the Garlic Girls have been almost totally sheltered숨기다, 감추다from the international frenzy광란, 광포, 열광both by personal choice — they switched off(스위치 등을 눌러서) (~을) 끄다their phones during the games to block outside attention — and by a protective coach who is keenly aware that curling is as much a mental game as a physical one.
South Korea's Kim Seonyeong김선영, left, sweeps(방 등을 빗자루로) 쓸다[청소하다] ice with a teammate during their match against Russian athletes at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Feb. 21, 2018.
Famous and they don't know it
After a recent match, the women were quickly shuffled(거짓말·핑계 등으로)이리저리 피하다, 얼버무리다past waiting reporters, giving journalists apologetic smiles and greetings of “Anyonghaseyo!” (hello) before vanishing. None of them, says coach Kim Min-jung, are aware that they’ve become superstars슈퍼스타(대단히 유명한 배우·가수·운동선수 등).
“I’m sorry that I could not bring the athletes today, because I’m worried there will be too much pressure압박and burden부담on them,” Kim said. “Even the crowd is too interested in them.”
That interest is understandable. The Garlic Girls seem tailor-made안성맞춤의for stardom스타의 반열.
The wildly skilled underdogs came into the Olympics ranked eighth in the world and went on to crush…을 눌러 부수다, 밟아 으깨다, 진압하다, 쳐부수다curling heavyweights유력한[영향력이 있는] 인물/단체including Canada and Sweden. They are cute and comical, referring to themselves by quirky nicknames such as “Pancake” and “Steak.”
Two teammates are sisters and all are longtime friends, creating irresistible저항할 수 없는, 이겨낼 수 없는, 압도적인chemistry on the ice. The team’s “skip,” or captain, has a steely강철 같은; 굳은, 견고한; 냉혹한gaze and funky파격적이고 멋진, owl-eyed glasses that have become fodder(가축의) 먹이,사료, 재료, 소재for endless Internet memes문화 구성 요소, 밈.
안경 선배 김은정 선수의 인터넷 짤 이미지
안경 선배 김은정 선수의 인터넷 짤 이미지
meme 밈
영국의 저명한 진화생물학자 리처드 도킨스가 1976년에 펴낸 <이기적인 유전자>라는 책에서 등장한 말로, 유전적 방법이 아닌 모방을 통해 습득되는 문화요소라는 뜻.
세계적인 생물학자이자 과학저술가인 리처드 도킨스(Richard Dawkins)가 1976년에 저서 <이기적인 유전자(The Selfish Gene)>에서 처음 제시한 용어로, 모방을 통해서 전해지는 것으로 여겨지는 문화의 요소를 말한다. 특히 이 책에서 처음 제시한 '밈(meme)'이라는 개념은 옥스퍼드 영어사전에까지 기록되었다. 영어사전에서 meme은 '유전적 방법이 아닌, 특히 모방을 통해서 전해지는 것으로 여겨지는 문화의 요소'라고 정의하고 있다. 도킨스에 따르면, 문화의 전달은 진화의 형태를 취한다는 점에서 유전자의 전달에 비유될 수 있다. 그러나 언어, 옷, 의식과 관행, 예술과 건축 등은 유전적이지 않은 방법을 통해 진화하였다. 그리고 문화의 전달에도 유전자처럼 복제기능을 가진 것이 있을 것이라 여겼고 이 새로운 복제자에게는 문화의 전달 단위 또는 모방 단위라는 개념을 함축하고 있는 이름이 필요했던 것이다. 이 때문에 남의 것을 모방하고자 하는 인간의 심리를, 모방의 뜻이 함축된 그리스어(mimeme)와 생물학적인 용어인 유전자(gene)의 발음 '진'에 빗대어 meme(밈)이라는 이름을 만들어 냈다.
Screaming fans
Many Koreans who have never seen a curling match have traveled to remote Gangneung to peek몰래 들여다[내다]보다,훔쳐보다, 엿보다at their nation’s new darlings사랑받는[인기 있는] 사람, 총아in person.
“I’m very proud of them,” said Lee Ji Sun, a 26-year-old who had never been inside a curling arena before Wednesday’s match. “They are showing we can do well even in new sport events.”
Every match featuring the team is packed with screaming, flag-fluttering(깃발 따위가) 펄럭이다Koreans who leap to their feet to cheer on the women’s stunningly굉장히 훌륭한[멋진],깜짝 놀랄 만한precise shots. One fan in the crowd Wednesday waved what appeared to be a hand-drawn portrait of skip Kim Eun-jung with her trademark spectacles.
South Korea's women's curling team celebrate after beating Russian athletes during their match at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Feb. 21, 2018.
Late to the game of curling
That curling has gained any prominence두드러짐,현저함,탁월,걸출;명성, 유명함in Korea is surprising in itself. Korea didn’t even have a team in Olympic curling until the 2014 Sochi Games.
It took Koreans awhile to wake up더 관심을 기울이다to curling, largely because the country lacked sufficient facilities until recent years, Kim Young, a curling legend who started the Korean Curling Club in 1988, said by email. Now, he says, Korea has six dedicated특정한 작업용으로 만들어진, … 전용의curling arenas, and many schools have curling teams.
In 2006, South Korea’s first curling center was built in the rural town of Uiseong의성. Four of the five team members attended Uiseong Women’s High School, where they were on the school’s curling team. Uiseong’s reputation as the nation’s default curling capital slowly grew, and the curling center has hosted about 15 major domestic and international curling events.
Garlic and those nicknames
Still, until the women’s team began their surprise winning streak(특히 스포츠·도박에서 성공·실패의) 연속in Pyeongchang, Uiseong was better known for its prolific(..을) 많이 산출하는garlic production.
Koreans consider garlic a health food that boosts stamina체력, 정력, 끈기, 지구력, 스태미나. Seo Eun Ha, a 26-year-old Garlic Girls fan, believes garlic may have contributed to the team’s success. (She also credits(공로·명예를 아무에게) 돌리다; (…의) 덕으로 치다the women’s good teamwork and strong relationships.)
Like many fans at Gangneung, Seo is particularly fond of the curlers’ unusual nicknames: Sunny, Steak, Pancake, Annie (a brand of yogurt) and ChoCho (a type of cookie).
“I think their nicknames go well with어울리다their lively images,” Seo said. “I like ‘Steak’ the most. It sounds so funny and unique.”
The nicknames started as a gag over breakfast one day, said Kim, the coach. The women were talking about how difficult it was for other countries’ athletes to pronounce their names at international competitions. All five team members and their coach also share the same surname성[姓]— Kim, which is very common in Korea — making their names even more confounding당황하게 하다,어리둥절하게 하다for foreigners.
Kim Seon-yeong, who was eating a sunny-side-up한쪽만 익힌fried egg, joked that she could go by the name “Sunny.” The other women loved the idea. They each opted(~을 하기로/하지 않기로) 택하다to nickname themselves after the English words for their favorite breakfast foods, figuring that would be easier for others to grasp.
Though the women’s team is getting the most attention, Korean fans have been going wild for the men, too. After Wednesday’s men’s match, a player from the Korean team began throwing T-shirts into the crowd, which surged(파도처럼) 밀려들다, 쇄도하다.forward with outstretched arms.
Kim Heae Darm, a fan who leaped up and managed to snag(흔히 다른 사람보다 먼저) 잡아[낚아] 채다a shirt sailing overhead, pressed it to her face and screamed with glee신이 남. She then turned to capturing the attention of Korean mixed doubles player Lee Ki-jeong, who scrawled휘갈겨 쓰다, 낙서를 하다his autograph(유명인의) 사인in her notebook.
As she struggled to catch her breath, she explained her excitement by noting that Lee was strong, athletic and “very handsome.”
As for the success of the women’s team, Kim, the founder of the curling club, couldn’t be prouder. “They are heroes!” he said.
Yet the Garlic Girls do have one request: Maybe someone could come up with a nicer team name for them?
“We would prefer the name ‘Team Kim,’” Kim, the coach, said with a laugh. “Because although our hometown is Uiseong — which is related to garlic — we have no relationship with garlic at all.”
우리 선수들의 환상적인 경기 장면 한번 보시죠.일본과의 숨막히는 접전 끝에 11엔드에서김은정 스킵이결승행 마지막 드로우를 성공하는 장면에서 뜨거운 감동이 샘솟네요.
