A video of table tennis player Shin Yu-bin as a child is going viral after her bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics.
In a 2009 clip from the SBS show “Star King,” a five-year-old Shin says, “I like table tennis more than food and my friends.”
Hyun Jung-hwa, the former director of the Korean national table tennis team, described her as a “genius” on the show.
Shin continued her journey to become a table tennis player, joining Team Korea in 2019 at just 14 years old.
Three years later, at 17, Shin participated in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Although she didn’t win any medals, she earned the nickname “Ppiyaki,” a Korean term for a baby bird’s chirping, reflecting the sounds she makes during matches.
After the Tokyo Olympics, Shin injured her right wrist due to overuse and entered rehab. She returned in 2023, winning a silver medal at the World Table Tennis Championships in the doubles category with Jeon Ji-hee. The duo continued their success by winning gold at the 19th Asian Games.
On Tuesday at the Paris Olympics, Shin and table tennis player Lim Jong-hoon won bronze, defeating Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem 4-0 in the mixed doubles bronze medal match. This victory marked their first Olympic medals and ended Korea’s 12-year medal drought in the sport.