Personal Side of Olympians on TV Screens

The Beijing Olympic Games are over but the buzz with Korea's Olympic stars is ongoing. Television broadcasters have been busy the past few days, and some have bore fruit with several of the most promising Olympic stars scheduled to appear on shows.

The first will be Jang Mi-ran, the gold medallist weightlifter. Jang, 24, will appear on comedian Kang Ho-dong's ``Gold Fish-Mureuppak Guru'' and share untold stories about herself and the world of weightlifting.

``Gold Fish-Mureuppak Guru'' is a popular talk show where celebrity guests bring their worries and ask Kang, a former ssireum (Korean wrestling) champion dressed as a shaman, for a solution. It has been through ups and downs since the first episode, with some fans thinking the show was creative and touching, while others felt uncomfortable with Kang's hyper hosting style. Nevertheless, the program has a reputation for getting top celebrities to reveal personal stories. Kang and Jang are expected to talk about her weight; not how to lose, but how to gain more. Learn about Jang's life as a weightlifter and as a 24-year-old tonight at 11:05 p.m. on MBC.

MBC's hit television program ``Muhandojeon,'' or ``Infinite Challenge,'' will bring the two badminton gold medallists, Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae to the small screen. With the original cast of Yu Jae-suk, Park Myung-soo, Jung Jun-ha, Jung Hyung-don, No Hong-chul and Jun Jin, the two athletes will share their journey toward the Olympic gold and also play badminton with them. The program recently regained its popularity as the cast flew to Beijing during the Olympics to cheer on the athletes and also the Korean fans. The team also participated in broadcasting some of the games with newscasters, bringing comical and fun narration to the newscast scene. ``Infinite Challenge'' airs Saturday at 6:40 on MBC.

Lee Yong-dae has a tight schedule as one of the most popular stars among fans, but he recently had to experience a messy scandal between two broadcasters, KBS and SBS. Lee recorded two separate programs prior to the actual airing date, but fans discovered the two shows aired on the same day at the same time. His agency, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, later gave a statement saying that Lee and the agency did not know about the simultaneous broadcasts that caused confusion and hoped the incident would not hurt his image as an athlete.

Fencing silver medallist Nam Hyun-hee and weightlifter Lee Bae-young will meet television fans through KBS's ``Happy Sunday-Schoolympics.'' The Olympic stars will compete in simple yet nostalgic games and activities on a set created to look like a classroom with celebrities as their competitors. The games will require the ``athletes'' to use simple school necessities like chairs, desks, mops and even buckets. Aiming to bring a more interesting and fun school environment, the show will combine elements of sport and school activities with the help of sports stars and celebrities. The show will air Sept. 14 at 5:20 p.m. on KBS.

Fans waiting for Asia's first Olympic gold medallist swimmer Park Tae-hwan will be disappointed as he announced that he will not appear in any programs. According to local media reports, Park's father Park In-ho was quoted as saying that Park is not planning to appear in any programs and that he will concentrate on his training and school work.