Olympic marathon gold medalist Hwang Young-jo will tie the knot with a high school teacher in December.

The 41-year-old, who won the 1992 Olympic gold in marathon, told the local media that he is planning to marry a woman het met through his hometown friend.

Hwang’s fianc studied computer engineering at Ewha Womans University, and now teaches at a high school in Seoul.

Hwang gained his nickname “Hero of Montjuic,” during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where he came in first to the applause from the crowd in Montjuic Stadium, winning the gold medal. It was a historical moment for the country as his marathon victory came 56 years after Sohn Kee-jung won the 1936 Olympics as a member of the Japanese team, since Korea was under Japanese colonial rule at the time.

Hwang, who also won the 1994 Asian Games gold medal, noted that he had devoted his life to the sport, but he now felt that it is time to spend the rest of his time happily married to his wife.

“We’re planning to wed in December, before the winter training begins,” he said.

The former Olympian currently serves as a national team coach and also a technical specialist for the Korea Association of Athletics Federation.

By Oh Kyu-wook
(596story@heraldcorp.com )