July 6, 2015
GWANGJU, July 3 (Yonhap) -- Baseball icon Park Chan-ho, the first South Korean to play in Major League Baseball (MLB), and Olympic gymnastics champion Yang Hak-seon lit the Universiade cauldron at the opening ceremony on Friday.
Park debuted with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994 and pitched in parts of 17 seasons with seven different teams in the bigs. He earned 124 career wins, more than any other Asian-born pitcher.
He retired in 2012 after one season with the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Internationally, Park won the 1998 Asian Games gold medal in Bangkok and served as the South Korean closer at the 2006 World Baseball Classic, where the country reached the semifinals.
He used his lone Universiade appearance in 1993 as a springboard for his big league career.
In Buffalo that year, Park, who was less heralded than some other collegiate pitchers, was a last-minute replacement for an injured player, but helped South Korea to the runner-up finish with one win and three saves, drawing interests from MLB scouts in the bargain.
Park is an iconic figure whose career peaks coincided with the financial crisis in South Korea in the late 1990s, when sports fanatics and non-fans alike drew courage and inspiration from the right-hander's performances.
Yang, 22, is a native of Gwangju. He captured the gold medal in men's vault at the 2012 London Games, becoming the first South Korean to win an Olympic gymnastics gold.
Identities of the final bearers were kept under wraps until the last minute.
Retired baseball icon Park Chan-ho (L) and Olympic gymnastics champion Yang Hak-seon wave to the crowds with the Universiade torch in their hands during the opening ceremony at Gwangju Universiade Main Stadium on July 3, 2015. (Yonhap)
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