Long way to go for local gymnasts

After working with the country's budding gymnasts for over two months, Korean coach Cho Sung Dong realised that Bangladeshi gymnasts and the coaches not only lack basic techniques but also trail in their thought processes toward the game.

Following some successes in Singapore Open in recent past, Bangladesh Gymnastics Federation (BGF) roped in high-profile Korean coach Cho Sung Dong in April in a quest to improve its level, with sights set on winning medals in the 2026 Asian Games.

"After coming here, I saw that the players lack basic techniques because the coaches are unable to guide gymnasts properly. They [coaches] don't even know how to teach players step by step," Dong told The Daily Star in an interview following a training session at the National Sports Council auditorium.

"The gymnasts and coaches are the same because they are not passionate enough about their intention and target. And I think it is a coach's duty to set targets for players instead of only spending time on the court," Dong added. "Like the gymnasts from Japan, China and Korea, the players need to set their own targets and the Bangladeshi gymnasts are trailing in this aspect. They also lag behind in their thought process compared to the gymnasts of Japan, China and Korea."

Dong, who guided the Korean gymnasts to gold in Olympic Games, is now training some 14 budding players to help them improve mentally and physically in order to be able to compete at the international level.

"I have been working to change mentality of players and instill the can-do attitude in them. If that can be achieved, their confidence level will go up besides refinement in their basics that I am striving for in training sessions," the Bangladesh Gymnastic coach said. "The gymnasts also need a perfect body to be able to exercise properly and I am also trying to help the players get into the perfect body shape."

Dong believes that there has been an apparent change since his arrival with gymnasts showing interests to learn new techniques.

Asked how he plans on winning a medal in the 2026 Asian Games with a small number of gymnasts, Dong said, "It is a common problem in the world that every country has a limited number of gymnasts. But winning medals depend on efforts put in, facilities and method of training the countries adopt. We need a long time to achieve the target but we want to finish among the top three in the 2026 Asian Games team event as well as win a gold medal in the individual event."