Abstract
This study adopted a phenomenological approach to explore both socio-cultural and socio-psychological factors of South Korean national athletes competing in the Olympics. In the given phenomenon, South Korean media often portrays the importance of winning medals in the Olympics as a means of promoting social and national cohesion and the society often expects and demands that athletes win medals in the Olympics to glorify their nation. When they fail to win medals, the society feels disappointed in the results. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to draw on empirical findings through qualitative interviews with ten of the current South Korean national short-track speed skaters to examine their national identity to participate in the Olympics. This research was conducted to promote new insights on national athletes’ holistic wellbeing into global scholarship from an East Asian perspective.