Behind the Korean athletes competing at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which run from the 19th through Oct. 4, is the largely unseen support of companies that fund their training and daily living. For athletes in sports that lack professional leagues and draw little public attention, competing internationally can be difficult without such backing.
CJ Group is supporting a wide range of sports at this year's Asian Games, including swimming, track and field and tennis, according to sports officials on the 15th. Its reach is broad enough that some in the sports community say Korea's bid to hold third place in the overall medal standings hinges on how Team CJ performs.
CJ says it identifies promising athletes early and funds their long-term pursuit of the world's top ranks under what it calls a "dream keeper" philosophy — the idea that companies should help nurture the dreams and futures of young people. What sets the group's sponsorship apart is that it backs not only established stars but also prospects still developing.
Team CJ's roster for this Asian Games numbers seven: swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, Korea's biggest name in the pool; sprinter Nnamdi Joel-jin and shot putter Park Si-hoon, the next generation in Korean track and field; Koo Yeon-woo, a rising hope in women's tennis; and breaking competitors Kim Hong-yul, known as Hong 10, Kim Heon-woo, known as Wing, and Kwon Sung-hee, known as Starry.
Hwang, Joel-jin, Park and Koo have all been sponsored by CJ since high school as they pushed from domestic competition toward the world stage. Golfer Kim Si-woo, who is not on this year's Asian Games roster, has been backed by CJ since he was 18. More than a decade later, Kim is ranked 13th in the world and is one of the leading players on the PGA Tour. He also won gold in the men's team event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Hwang has been with CJ since 2021, when he first began making his name. At the 2023 Hangzhou Games he collected two golds, two silvers and two bronzes, including in the men's 200-meter freestyle and the 800-meter freestyle relay. In Aichi-Nagoya he will swim the 100- and 200-meter freestyle and the 400- and 800-meter freestyle relays, seeking multiple titles at a second straight Asian Games. Attention is on whether he can break his own Asian record of 1 minute 43.92 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle, his main event.
Joel-jin and Park are chasing both personal bests and medals at their first Asian Games. Joel-jin ran a personal-best 10.13 seconds in the 100 meters this year. Last year he anchored a Korean national record of 38.49 seconds in the 400-meter relay at the Asian Athletics Championships, taking gold with his teammates. His goals this time are relay gold and a national record in the 100 meters. Park won the under-20 Asian Championships in May with a throw of 20.65 meters using the 6-kilogram shot, setting a U-20 Asian record, and has since moved up to the 7.26-kilogram senior implement as he goes after a medal here. Park has been sponsored by CJ since 2023 and Joel-jin since last year.
Koo, who reached the women's doubles quarterfinals in Hangzhou, has steadily built international experience with CJ's support and climbed the world rankings quickly. She reached a career-high 171st this year, and she aims to carry momentum from a runner-up finish at the ITF W100 Evansville event and her first Grand Slam qualifying win at the U.S. Open into Aichi-Nagoya.
CJ became the first Korean company to sponsor breaking athletes and crews in 2021. Three of the four members of the national breaking team are Team CJ athletes. Kim Hong-yul, a Hangzhou silver medalist who also competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, along with Kim Heon-woo and Kwon Sung-hee, all have extensive international experience, giving the group strong medal prospects at these Games.
CJ is also an official partner of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. It recently held a "Bibigo Day" at the Jincheon National Training Center, serving special meals to about 800 national team athletes and coaching staff.
"We look first at what athletes could become, and we have stood alongside them so they can pursue their dreams on many different stages," a CJ official said. "At this Asian Games, we will keep playing that dream keeper role so that Team CJ and all of Team Korea can perform at their best."
