Young South Korean diver Kim Su-ji surprised the nation last weekend with an unexpected bronze medal at the 2019 FINA World Championship in Gwangju.<br />Diving isn't a particularly well-known in Korea... so it was a historic moment for Kim and the country's history in the sport.<br />Our Lee Min-sun went to Gwangju to meet the unlikely medalist and filed this report. South Korean diver Kim Su-ji became a household name on Sunday at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championship... by winning a bronze medal in the women's 1-meter springboard.<br />She is the first-ever South Korean diver to reach the podium at the international swimming competition.<br />The eighteen-year-old diver says her medal-winning efforts... came as a surprise even to her.<br /><br />"Before I first dove, I didn't think I would win a medal at all. But, the results turned out to be much better than I had expected. So, my coach told me there was hope in the final round, but I thought of it as a joke. But, I'm really satisfied that I got such a great result."<br /><br />Kim dove into the water as many as 200 times a day,... in the lead-up to her historic five dives in the final rounds of 1-meter springboard.<br />Her monumental achievement was in the 1-meter event which is not an official Olympic event.<br />In order to punch her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics next year, Kim has to be one of 12 finalists in 3-meter springboard.<br /><br />"I personally consider the 3-meter springboard individual event to be the most important competition for me. It's the official Olympic event so I paid more attention to this.<br />One-meter is quite low and there's limited number of turns a diver can make. But for 3-meters, it's higher, meaning there's more space to make turns and more difficult moves."<br /><br />Kim was only 14 years old when she made her Olympic debut in 2012 at London...<br />but didn't make it to national team for the next Summer Olympics in 2016. And now she's eyeing for her next Olympic chance.<br /><br />"I still have remaining competitions here in Gwangju so I will focus on those and if I do get to participate in the Olympics there's many more places for me to climb up to. I will put more efforts to achieve those goals. I was told to have a big dream, so I m hoping for a good result in the Olympics."<br /><br />Kim will compete in 3-meter springboard preliminary rounds on Thursday and the mixed 3-meter synchro springboard final on Saturday.<br />Lee Min-sun Arirang News, Gwangju.<br />
