Chapter 189 – Going to the Olympics.

On Tuesday, July 21, the Olympic national boxing team set off for Spain four days before the opening ceremony.
It was a convenience for local adaptation.
There were already national representatives who left for Spain at the end of last week.

Thanks to my popularity, there were many reporters at Gimpo Airport.
The national boxing players of other weight classes, who started together, looked bewildered when they saw the reporters.
It was because I had never received so much attention as a boxer before.

Before departure, the boxing team leader and staff gathered at the airport to take a commemorative photo, and until the flight time, they shared farewells with their families.
Of course, all of my women were there to meet me at the airport, even though they were busy.

Mother and Aunt Jeong-hee followed So-hee and Yeon-hee to the airport, and Kyung-mi, who was busy filming for a minor role in a drama, also found time to come to the airport.
Kyung-mi and Soo-young noona are celebrities, but Kim Doo-sik thoroughly covered them up with sunglasses and a hat and practiced beside them.

Aunt Hyo-sun, Aunt Hye-jeong, and Young-hee noona all greeted me with teary faces, telling me to be careful and have a good trip, and to never get hurt.
Jin-hee even missed school and was at the airport to see me off.
I hugged all of my women and finally went through security and went to the duty free shop.

The director also participated in the Olympics as a coach staff this time.
Of course, it was the result of someone exerting their power from above.

At the duty-free shop, I was picking out gifts for the women, and the manager followed me in.
As expected, the director was interested in the expensive liquor.

“Chief. You are also looking at Yangjoo. What do you like, boss?”

“Ah.. No. What kind of expensive liquor… It’s okay.”

“No. Manager, thank you very much. There were so many twists and turns along the way to the Olympics, but didn’t we really come to the Olympics because the director guided us well? I am truly grateful for the kindness of the director.”

The manager said it was natural and was very embarrassed.

I picked up some royal salute for my enema.
However, the director had no idea what kind of wine this was.
Well, at this time, when it comes to Western liquor, Chivas Regal or Johnnie Walker were considered the best, so would you have looked at this expensive Western liquor?

“Haha. Director, you’ll be proud to say you drank Royal Salute later.”

The director was subtly holding Chivas Regal on and off, but I ended up buying Royal Salute and giving it to him.
The director, who was standing next to the Royal Shalute, was so surprised that his eyeballs popped out.

I smiled as if the director’s expression was funny, put the envelope in the director’s hand, and moved to the departure area.
The manager kept urging me to change it, saying how to eat such expensive food, but I just pretended not to hear and went to the place where the other players were waiting.

Boarding was finally carried out, and the flight attendants, knowing that we were the Korean delegation to the Olympics, were extremely kind and told us to fight.
After a long flight of 14 hours, we arrived at the beautiful port city of Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Barcelona was a very familiar city to my ears, but even at this time, Barcelona was not a very famous city.
This was because Catalonia’s autonomy was so strong that the Spanish government did not want Barcelona to be known to the outside world.

Clearly, Barcelona was one of the largest cities in Spain as the second largest city in Korea, like Busan, but few people knew about it.
However, with the Barcelona Olympics as an opportunity, this beautiful city will be introduced to the world and will become a famous tourist destination in the future.

After getting off at the airport and taking the team bus to the city center, I saw the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, which was designed and built by the famous Gaudí.
Although it is a towering building in the middle of the city, it was a great building that started to be built in 1882 and is still being built.

Everyone on the team was mesmerized by the clean air, high blue sky and neat and stylish cityscape of Barcelona.
When I explained about the Sagrada Familia Cathedral to the curator sitting next to me, everyone looked at the building in wonder and their ears perked up.

When did Korean villagers ever come to a city in an advanced country like this?
Of course, I had never been to Barcelona, ​​Spain until I returned.

But coming from 2017, when traveling and eating became commonplace, I knew Barcelona well because I had seen and heard about it.
When I had the opportunity, I wanted to watch FC Barcelona’s matches, especially El Clasico, and the matches between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

All the players fell in love with the city of Barcelona at first sight, and while we were dazed, we were able to enter the athletes’ village.
Athletes’ village officials and staff came out to greet us kindly and guided us to our lodgings.

On the first day, I simply warmed up and rested early to adjust to the jet lag.

On the second day, we tried to adapt to the local weather and time while doing intense physical training and sparring, just like in Korea.
I’ll probably do this intense training until tomorrow.
And from the day before the opening ceremony, I was going to lightly adjust my condition, focusing on sparring.

I was more tired than I thought after exercising all day in a strange place and watching strangers who I couldn’t communicate with.
All these strangers here were competitors.

When evening came, everyone was exhausted, and as soon as they ate dinner, they went to their rooms and collapsed.
However, with a strangely strong stamina, I had relatively free time, so I went out to see this beautiful Mediterranean city.

It was past seven in the evening, but the sun was still hanging high up.
I was slowly walking around the athlete’s village, and a black man was bouncing a ball on the basketball court next to the hostel.
It seemed to me that they were playing.

It was probably like a basketball player from a country, but it seemed like he was bouncing a ball by himself after finishing his workout during the day and having dinner.
However, the way he shoots, dribbles, and even the dunk following the air walk after jumping was no joke.

‘And. Who really is no joke. It’s like Michael Jordan, the god of basketball.’

Thinking to myself, I watched the black player’s ball play for a long time, mesmerized.

As I stood close to the court and watched with admiration, the player played alone for a while, then picked up a water bottle on the floor, drank it, and tossed the ball at me.
I accepted it without hesitation and looked at the player, but it was a familiar look that I had seen many places.

“Uh? Uh? E.. Michael Jordan?”

It was.
The person who threw the ball at me was the god of basketball, Michael Jordan, who participated as a member of the U.S. National basketball team.

One of the biggest issues of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was the US basketball dream team.
The United States built a team with astronomical players whose names they knew just by hearing, such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley, starting with Michael Jordan.

If I remember correctly, the first American basketball dream team won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics by winning very lightly with a score difference of more than tens of points per game.

Anyway, whether you play basketball or not, you must have heard of the name Michael Jordan of the United States.
He was a player who led the heyday of American basketball, and was very popular in Korea as well.

I don’t like sports very much, but the only sport I liked was basketball, and even while I was busy, I would watch every Michael Jordan game.

That Michael Jordan threw the basketball he was playing with at me.
I got goosebumps on my arm for an instant.

“Really? Oh you Michael Jordan?”

Michael Jordan smiled and pointed at the basketball in my hand.
I looked at the basketball once and quickly threw it.

“Michael, I am a real fan of yours.”

When I spoke in English, Michael Jordan smiled and thanked me, as if he was surprised that an Asian could speak English naturally.
But Michael Jordan, who was laughing and having fun, looked me up and down, saw that I was quite tall, and asked if I would like to play a game.

Oh, my God!
The basketball god asked me to play basketball with him.

When will an opportunity like this come again?
I immediately said yes and went up on the court.

Michael Jordan, who was handsome for a black man, showed his white teeth, smiled broadly, and pushed the ball one-bound at me.
After bouncing the ball a few times, I was thrilled and asked for a handshake, and Michael Jordan shook hands happily and took a defensive stance.

At least, I had played some basketball in my school days before returning, so I approached Michael Jordan while dribbling with my heart pounding.
Michael Jordan reached out quickly and stole the ball out of my hand.
Also, the class was different.

It was only now that I came to my senses and tried to stop Michael Jordan with a serious attitude.
However, Michael Jordan came running with the ball and fired the famous fadeaway shot, a shot that was shot while jumping backwards.
Without even trying to use his hand, the ball immediately bounced and went into the net.

When I burst out exclamations while saying wow, Michael Jordan laughed round and round as if it was funny.
I caught the ball, pushed it one-bound, and took a defensive stance with the thought of doing it right now.
He lowered his waist and followed Michael Jordan as if he were hugging him.

Michael Jordan passed me with a brilliant dribble, ran right under the goal, and lightly dropped it on the goal post.
It was so much fun even though I was clearly being teased.

He pushed the ball back to one-bound and this time he chased after Michael Jordan with all his might.
My defense was stronger than I thought, so Michael Jordan pretended to go forward to try the fadeaway again, then jumped backwards.

I also jumped up to block it this time and blocked Michael Jordan’s shot with my hand.
But maybe my jump was higher than expected, Michael Jordan’s shot got caught in my fingertips and fell behind me.

I quickly caught the ball, dribbled it out, and moved toward the goal.

When I touched the ball I shot, Michael Jordan looked quite surprised.
Obviously, he jumped first and shot, but my jump, which jumped late, exceeded his height.

Michael Jordan put on an amused look, lowered his stance, and reached for my ball.
However, thinking that he would not be beaten anymore, he sent the ball between his crotches, which he had done before, and while running quickly, returned the ball behind his back and dribbled it, passing Michael Jordan.
Maybe it’s because I regressed and developed my stamina and senses, so my dribbling went pretty well.

And the layup that followed, Michael Jordan couldn’t block it and my shot was successful.
Then, Michael Jordan exclaimed, “Oh~” And applauded.

My attack continued again, and this time, as soon as I caught the ball coming from the one-bound, I dribbled briefly and jumped from the 3-point line to shoot.
A clean shot that goes in cleanly.

Michael Jordan’s eyes widened in surprise, and he said, “Good, good.”

As I continued my attack and dribble quickly, Michael Jordan hardened his face seriously and fought very actively.
It must have hurt his pride when he gave up two goals to an Asian player.

When Michael Jordan, who is over 190 cm, pressed, it was no joke either.
It felt as if there was a wall in front of me.
However, having a strangely strong stamina, I gradually pushed the wall of Michael Jordan with force.

Michael Jordan seemed to be taken aback when I dribbled and pushed in with my shoulder without losing the ball at all.

Pushing to the free-throw line, I pushed my left foot forward as if I was about to break through, just like Michael Jordan did, then jumped back and fired a fadeaway shot.
But the moment I jumped, Michael Jordan was jumping too.
It was definitely Michael Jordan, full of elasticity like an animal.

Michael Jordan, who stretched his hand straight up to try to hit my ball, looked flustered for a second.
It was because my flight time running backwards was longer.

As Michael Jordan’s hands peaked and started to fall, I finally shot.
A ball hit the backboard and went into the net. It was Michael Jordan looking at the ball as if he was dumbfounded.

Michael Jordan turned his head, raised his thumb, and said in amazement, ‘You’re great!’
I bowed my head and was embarrassed while saying thank you.

I didn’t even run for a while, but sweat was running down my whole body.
It felt so good to play basketball with Michael Jordan.

But the funny thing is that quite a few people were standing around our court and looking at us with interest.

There was also the familiar bulky Magic Johnson.
Magic Johnson was also looking at me with a very curious look.

As if there was a rumor that the famous Michael Jordan was having a basketball match with an Asian young man, people flocked to it.

Michael Jordan asked if I was going to do more, and I said no because there were too many people.
Michael Jordan asked me to shake his hand, saying that my skills were great.
I held Michael Jordan’s hand with a feeling of joy.

However, Magic Johnson came up to us and asked which country I was on the national basketball team.
I told him that I was a Korean player, not a basketball player, but a boxer.

Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, who were listening next to him, were also surprised and asked if he was not a basketball player.
Since I was 188 cm tall, I naturally assumed that I would be a national basketball player from an Asian country.

That’s why Michael Jordan also provoked him with a basketball.
However, it was absurd to say that he was not a basketball player, but a boxer who had nothing to do with it.

Everyone was looking at me like a monster when the boxer hit a fadeaway shot against Michael Jordan and blocked Michael Jordan’s shot.

Michael Jordan, who had a very absurd face, laughed out loud, grabbed my hand, and dragged me to his dorm, saying that he was a very good friend.

I was so happy that Michael Jordan, my idol, welcomed me like this, so I gladly followed him to the dorm. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson introduced me to the US team players and boasted about me, arguing about the match with Michael Jordan that had just happened.
Everyone was surprised when they heard that and saw me, and soon they all greeted me and handed out a can of beer.

I laughed and chatted with them until late, and Michael Jordan gave me an address and phone number to come visit when I come to America later.
It was a moment when I came to the Olympics and made a very special memory.

I couldn’t hide my excitement and wanted to show off to my mother, so I called home without thinking.
The phone rang for a while and her mother answered the phone in a sleepy voice.

“Oh. Hee Kyung. Sorry, I forgot it was dawn there. I’ll call you back later Go to sleep.”

“No. No. He called.. I woke up.”

As soon as she heard my voice, my mother hurriedly stopped me with a clear voice.

“Isn’t there anything special for you?”

“Huh. Nothing happened. Moreover, I called Hee-kyung to brag about something very interesting today, but I forgot that it was early in the morning. Sorry.”

There is a 7 hour time difference between Korea and Spain.
Since it was now around 10pm in Spain, it would be around 5am the next day in Seoul.
Then I heard Sohee crying on the phone.

“Ah! So-hee must have been woken up by the ringing of the phone. Hee-kyung, hurry up and go to So-hee. I’ll call you back later.”

“No. Wait for a sec. Don’t hang up Why do you keep trying to quit? Don’t you want to hear my voice?”

My mother complained cutely, and I laughed because it was so cute.

“Sohee, this is your father. Try it, Dad.”

My mother was on the phone and talking to Sohee.
But what will a child less than one year old say? I heard only groaning.

“It’s Hee-kyung. I have to go in now, so I’ll tell you quickly…”

I told you about what happened with Michael Jordan this evening.
Her mother had heard at least the name of Michael Jordan, and she was very happy that she had become acquainted with the great man.

We inquired about each other for a while, decided to call again tomorrow, and ended the call.

I made memories with Michael Jordan and heard the voice of my loving mother. I was so happy that I entered the dorm.

As soon as I entered the dorm, my older brother, who shared the same room, asked me what good was going on, and I proudly told him about my affair with Michael Jordan again.

My older brother felt sorry for me, saying he wanted to go out too, and he was extremely envious of me.
So the second night in Spain passed.