# The late coach Park Man-bok is the father of Peruvian volleyball Players

"My long-cherished dream of returning to my father's country, Mr. Park, has come true."

Cecilia Tight, 62, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), one of the world's best strikers in women's volleyball in the 1980s, said in a tearful voice after she stepped back on the court at Hanyang University in Seoul for the first time in 36 years. As if going back to her athletic days, Tightrope sat on the court and became fond of old memories for a while.

Tie, who visited Korea last week to attend the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon Province, visited Hanyang University's Olympic Gymnasium before returning to Peru. This is the venue where women's volleyball games at the Seoul Olympics, including the final match between Peru and the Soviet Union, were held. Tie participated in the Seoul Olympics as a member of the Peruvian women's volleyball team.

This event is considered the fiercest competition in the history of volleyball at the Olympics. Peruvian players took the first and second sets, while the Soviet Union won the third and fourth sets. In the last five sets, the Soviet Union won the game 17-15, after four close matches.

Korean spectators who filled the gymnasium unilaterally cheered for Peru, which won the silver medal. Back then, the Peruvian national team was the late coach Park Man-bok 1936-2019. revered as the "hero of Peruvian volleyball," Park was appointed as the coach of the Peruvian national team in 1974, and led the Peruvian national team in four Olympics including the 1980 Moscow Olympics. "Mr. Park" was like my father as a poor girl without my father. He was also the one who cheered me on by saying that I would become the best player in the world," said the tightrope.

Park was an extremely warm coach outside the court, but she gave him a hard training. If she didn't practice hard, she would have to be called on Sunday to receive a ball and hit her. Under Park's guidance, Park was selected as a member of the national team at age 16, and played in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Since then, Park has been called the "golden lefty" and dominated an era in women's volleyball.

It was also Park who led Park back to the court after undergoing knee surgery ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. "It's time for you to come back," Park said, adding that he had been concentrating on rehabilitation by himself. Although the Olympic silver medal stopped right before the gold medal, it is the highest ever recorded by a Peruvian national volleyball team.

"Mr. Park's tears in his life were the only time he lost in the final of the Seoul Olympics," the tight committee member recalled. "When he cried, who was like a father to all the players as well as me, all the players shed tears together." [토토사이트](https://www.betmantoto.org)

Park became the first Korean to be inducted into the World Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016. His students and members made a surprise visit to Boston where the event took place and congratulated him on the spot.

After retiring as a volleyball player, Tait worked hard to develop women's and youth sports while serving as a lawmaker in Peru. Later, Tait became a sports administrator and was elected as a new member at the 141st IOC General Assembly held in Mumbai, India last year. "After becoming an IOC member, I was very happy to hear that the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympic Games will be held in my father's country," Tait said. "Mr. Park is someone who taught me everything that I know now. I worked for Peruvian youth while serving as a lawmaker, but now that I am an IOC member, I want to help all athletes around the world."