'Soft Drink Pig' in money
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ByEurosport
Updated 28/08/2012 at 09:00 GMT
South Korea's 'Soft Drink Pig' Oh Jin-hyek can buy himself a lifetime's supply of fizzy pop after Hyundai Motor Group rewarded the archer's gold medal feat at the London Olympics with a massive cash bonus.
South Korea's Jin Hyek Oh thumbs-up as he celebrates gold in the men's individual archery event at the Olympics (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
Oh and his bow-toting sweetheart Ki Bo-bae scooped the men's and women's individual titles and were handed a combined bonus of 450 million won (£250,000) for their golden exploits at the 2012 Games.
For Oh, his share of 200 million won would buy him almost 300,000 cans of coca-cola at current prices in South Korea -- enough for him to guzzle more than 16 cans per day if he lived to be 80.
The chunky 31-year-old earned the nickname 'Tansan Dweji', or 'Soft Drink Pig', by local media because of his weakness for the soft drink.
The archer says he drinks only coke because he loves the taste and it perks him up.
Oh also brought home a bronze medal from the team event, though that would have done little to impress his girlfriend.
Ki, who received 250 million won, partnered Lee Sung-jin and Choi Hyeon-ju to another gold in the team event, continuing South Korea's remarkable record at the Olympics.
Since 1984, South Korea's women have won 14 of the 15 team and individual Olympic gold medals up for grabs, while the men won team gold in Sydney, Athens and Beijing and Oh won their first individual title in London.
Lee and Choi each received 120 million won, while Oh's team-mates Im Dong-hyun and Kim Bub-min were handed 50 million won.
Auto giant Hyundai has been a huge factor in Korea's astonishing archery success, investing more than $26.42 million to support young archers and develop equipment, local media quoted Hyundai officials as saying.
Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo served as head of the Korea Archery Association from 1985 to 1997 and is an honorary chairman.
Other Korean gold medallists were rewarded with cash bonuses after the country's best performance at an Olympics. South Korea exceeded all expectations by finishing fifth on the medals table with 13 golds.
Shinhan Financial Group gave 100 million won to gymnast Yang Hak-seon, who won the first gold medal in the vault, and extended its sponsorship deal with Yang for another two years, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Seoul government also gives financial rewards to Olympic medalists, with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism handing out 60 million won for gold, 30 million won for silver and 18 million won for bronze.
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