South Korea's annual "Daze Contest" came to its 10th session this year, and the competition ended on the Han River in Seoul on the 12th local time, with female anchor Kwon So-ah (transliteration) winning the championship. However, the one to be noted in this competition is Olympic short track speed skater Kwak Yun-ki, who won a silver medal in the men's 5,000m relay for South Korea at the 2010 Winter Olympics and finished third in the competition. Guo Runqi talked about the reason for the defeat after the game, which turned out to be related to his "occupational disease".
Korea's annual daze contest
Since its inception in 2014, South Korea's "Daze Contest" has gained a lot of popularity and has become a topic of discussion and imitation in various places. The rules of the competition are simple, participants must have 90 minutes to free their attention, but they are not allowed to sleep, chat, look at their phones, etc. If there are still multiple winners at the end of the match, the ranking will be determined by the scores voted by the spectators.
This year's competition was attended by 77 people, ranging from elementary school students to their 60s. While there were other internet celebrities and members of the women's team, Winter Olympics skater Guo Runqi was the biggest focus. He competed with his teammates, but only he made it to the final and finished third.
Winter Olympics short track speed skater Guo Runqi won the third place in this competition
When asked why he participated, he replied: "I've competed in five [Winter] Olympics and I've competed with other people all my life, so I'd love to take a break. Guo Runqi continued to say that the goal of this competition was to win the championship, but in the end he won the third place due to the ups and downs of his heartbeat. He goes on to explain that it was because the bell rang in the final stages that made him involuntarily sprint: "For short track speed skaters, the bell marks the last lap and is a very tense moment. That's why my heart beats violently when the bell rings, and I try to press it as hard as I can, but it's difficult. ”
Guo Runqi (white shirt) revealed the reason for the defeat, which turned out to be an "occupational disease".
Guo Runqi also said that he agrees with this competition, so that busy urbanites can find the value of their own existence; In an interview after the race, champion Kwon So-ah said that she often sat on the station because she fell asleep. The organizers of the event also said that seeing the competition gain attention for 10 consecutive years proves that the life of urban people is still busy, "Recently, there has been an increase in the number of whole families participating in the competition together, that is, the behavior of 'being in a daze' is not all negative".
Many contestants will dress up carefully to participate in the daze competition
South Korean media outlet NATE interviewed Koo Jung-woo, a professor of sociology at Sungkyunkwan University, who believes that the popularity of the competition reflects the strong desire to be completely isolated from certain things in this environment, as South Korean society is in a state of excessive competition and extreme conflict.