Tong-Gu Chung and the development of elite sport in South Korea: A biographical study

Abstract This study examines the career of Tong-Gu Chung, a South Korean athlete, coach, and sport administrator. As a wrestler, Chung was a national champion. As a coach, he guided the South Korean wrestling team at the 1976 Olympic Games. As an administrator, he served as president of the Korea National Sport University. In these roles, which coincided with a time of military rule in South Korea, Chung was known as a harsh, authoritarian leader. However, since the end of military rule, Chung has held a much different set of leadership roles, working with organizations that support the educational and professional development of retired athletes. The current study explored these apparent contradictions in Chung’s career through a biographical approach, using pragmatism as an analytical lens.