Lee Kang-in chips away at Son Heung-min's crown in top Korean athlete poll

Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min topped the ranking on Gallup Korea’s annual poll of the biggest names in Korean sport, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in taking second and a big chunk of Son’s annual vote.

Son Heung-min, right, and Lee Kang-in wave to fans after Korea's 6-0 win against Vietnam in a friendly at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Oct. 17. [NEWS1]

Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min topped the ranking on Gallup Korea’s annual poll of the biggest names in Korean sport, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in taking second and a big chunk of Son’s annual vote.

Son topped the “Person who shined the most in Korean sports” poll with 73.8 percent of the vote, holding on to first place for a seventh consecutive year, but with less dominance than last year’s 86.2 percent. The re-coronation comes as little surprise, with the captain of both club and country remaining the most successful Asian footballer ever to play in the Premier League and one of the top-rated midfielders in the world today.

Lee, who was ranked at No. 4 last year, finished second with 27.7 percent of the vote, far more than 2022 runner-up Kim Yeon-koung’s 9.9 percent.

Lee, 22, has been a fan-favorite in Korea since he was just 10 years old, but has seen his profile shoot up this year after joining football royalty at French club PSG. Now playing alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lee has gone from child prodigy and rising star to an established figure in both European football and on the Korean national team.

Lee Kang-in, left, and Son Heung-min chase the ball during a friendly between Korea and Vietnam at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Oct. 17. [YONHAP]

Footballers dominated in general this year, taking the top four spots on the ranking for the first time since the poll began in 2007. Following Son and Lee, Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae finished third with 8.1 percent of the vote, followed by Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan with 4.8 percent.

Badminton player An Se-young, who this year became the first ever Korean to become women’s singles world champion and the first Korean in 29 years to win the women’s singles title at the Asian Games, finished in fifth place with 4.1 percent of the vote.

Rounding out the top 10 were Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, who has not actually played at all this year while recovering from injury, volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung, table tennis player Shin Yu-bin, San Diego Padres utility man Kim Ha-seong and high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok.

Ryu and Kim Yeon-koung, two of Korea’s biggest sporting heroes, both dropped out of the top five this year for the first time in years. Ryu ranked at No. 1 in 2013 and remained in the top five in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, while Kim Yeon-koung was in the top 10 in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The gradual shift toward football continues a general trend over the last decade as Korean footballers' prominence in Europe has grown.

With the exception of 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hugely interrupted competitions around the world, and 2021, when success at the delayed Tokyo Games thrust archers An San and Kim Je-deok into the top five, there have been at least three footballers in the top five every year since 2018.

While Son is a constant, the other footballers making the cut have shifted over time, from Jo Hyeon-woo and Hwang Ui-jo in 2018 and Ki Sung-yueng in 2019 to Lee Kang-in in 2020 and Kim Min-jae in 2022. Hwang Hee-chan broke into the top five for the first time this year.

Noticeably absent from this year’s top 10 is Kiwoom Heroes outfielder Lee Jung-hoo, who missed most of the season with an injury. Lee on Tuesday reportedly signed a huge $113-million contract with the San Francisco Giants, the highest contract ever for a player signing from the KBO, but the news broke after the Gallup poll closed. Lee ranked at No. 10 in 2022.

Gallup Korea polled 1,769 people over the age of 13 across Korea (excluding Jeju) between Nov. 2 and Dec. 4. Participants were asked to name the two Korean athletes that they felt had shone the most in 2023 without being provided with a list of options.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]