Korean Olympic Athletes Lend Names to London Tube Stations

Park Tae-hwan (left) and Park Sung-hyun Park Tae-hwan (left) and Park Sung-hyun

London will have Park Tae-hwan and Park Sung-hyun stations on its subway lines for the 2012 Olympics this summer.

Associated Press on Thursday said, "The subway system in the British capital has taken on a new look with Transport for London's Olympic Legends Map. Instead of Piccadilly Circus, Baker Street and Knightsbridge, the map has changed the names of 361 stations to celebrate Olympic athletes."

Two Koreans are included -- swimmer Park Tae-hwan and archer Park Sung-hyun. Park Tae-hwan, who became the first Korean swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal in the men's 400-m freestyle at 2008 Beijing games, is aiming to defend his title. Park Sung-hyun, who won two gold medals in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, retired after she won another gold medal in the team event four years later.

Park Tae-hwan's name replaces Debden Station on the Central Line, and Park Sung-hyun's takes over Imperial Wharf Station of the London Overground.

The Olympic Legends Map features some of the greatest Olympians in history such as Muhammad Ali, winner of the light heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics, gymnastics legend Nadia Comăneci, basketball player Michael Jordan, track and field star Carl Lewis, and footballer Lionel Messi. Stratford Station at the site of the Olympics is labeled with eight-time swimming gold medalist Michael Phelps.

A North Korean athlete also appears on the Legends Map. Kim Il, who won two consecutive gold medals in men's freestyle wrestling in 1992 in Barcelona and 1996 in Atlanta, is honored at Shadwell Station.

englishnews@chosun.com / Mar. 30, 2012 12:33 KST