It was an early afternoon in spring when most of the country's sports arena was buzzing with the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games.
Cho Sung Dong was found in front of the gate of National Sports Council looking at a little dog and trying to communicate.
The dog reacted like it knows the face very well and hastily reached upon his feet.
There was something wrapped on his hand as he was leading the dog towards the side wall of the NSC premises.
He unwrapped it and the food for the dog was unveiled.
He dropped it before slowly walking towards the gymnasium where the dog is kind of famous to everyone because of him.
The canine was in poorer health than its two siblings when they were born under the metro rail flyover in Paltan, but the others died and only this dog survived.
“Giving it as an example, I told my players that it doesn't matter how good your health is now. What matters most is who survives at the end,” Dong told Dhaka Tribune through interpreter Mohammad Nazrul Islam during an interview.
After taking the job of national gymnastics head coach, which he described as sort of a social work, Dong found out that all the players lacked the basic knowledge of the game so he cut out the senior group and brought in younger players with an eye on the future.
Dong gives pointers to gymnast Menton Toni Mro, who is practicing on a pommel horse Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneNew diet and schedule
The 75-year old Dong initiated a training schedule for the gymnasts which has never been seen before.
The gymnasts have to practice for around nine hours every day.
There is one day-off and for two days, they train from afternoon till night.
The diet also improved overnight as foods like rice, that has carbohydrate, was reduced and protein was given priority.
The profile of Dong is something Bangladesh has never managed to hire before and to be more precise, nowhere near close to his level.
With a vast experience of coaching in more than four decades, the former gymnast has disciples who won gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships.
The gymnastics federation didn't want to comment on the impact of Dong just yet, but couldn't hide the level of improvement the national gymnasts have been showing in practice since his arrival.
First pit in gymnasium
The South Korean also changed the scenario of gymnasium in only eight months.
The most visible change which Dong made soon after joining is convincing the federation high-ups to set up a pit for the first time at the Dhaka gymnasium.
Pit is an essential element of gymnastics and national gymnasts had a long-time dream of having a pit which makes training comfortable and secured and reduces injury concerns.
There are two more pits in the country – one at Savar's Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan, which is in improper condition, and another at Quantum's gymnasium in Lama, Bandarban.
The gymnastics federation took ideas from abroad, made their own designs and appointed a local company to install the pit that cost around Tk60 lakhs.
“All the gymnasts always had a dream to have a pit here because it has no alternative for high performance,” said former national gymnast and federation member Habibur Rahman Jamil.
“New pit changed the game. Before that, we didn't have the security of our life and body. Pit gives confidence to the gymnasts. Now they don't fear of falling,” he added.
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Wanted but not met
Dong has set a target for 2026.
By this time he hopes the gymnasts would be skilled enough to compete for medals in bigger stages like Asian Games and World Championships.
He wanted some other things which could develop the players faster and in a proper way but those have not been met due to limitation of the federation, mainly financial.
“He wanted a gym, ice bathing facility and a physio for the team so that these help the gymnasts for the recovery of the muscles,” said a former gymnast and current coaching staff member.
Dong said he also wanted an assistant coach and guards [elements of gymnastics] for the players, but admitted the financial drawback.
The federation members said they are even finding it hard to manage funds for the salary of the coach and the expenses of the training camp as there is no sponsor.
The majority of the costs are currently being covered by Bangladesh Gymnastics Federation president and Bangladesh Olympic Association vice-president Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Mamun.
Dong, who coached South Korea national team for three decades and guided them to Olympic gold in 2012, also realized the situation and has been looking for sponsors by his own from his country.
He said he has already built affection for Bangladesh players.
He also thinks that many Bangladeshis have the “perfect body shape” to be a gymnast.
Dong is not just a coach but also an inventor of new techniques and strategies in artistic gymnastics, one of which was applied by Yang Hak-seon to bag gold at the London Olympics.
If he stays here for a while yet, Bangladesh can expect more positive changes in future.
