‘Physical 100’ Finale: Investigative Reports Claim Woo Jin-yong Wasn’t the Real Winner
Physical 100 is Netflix‘s top competition series that ended on a high note with fans and its contestants. The nine-episode series took 100 competitors of varying athletic abilities to see who had the best physique. By the end of Physical 100, Woo Jin-yong was the underdog who fans never honestly expected to be the winner but welcomed it regardless. But recent reports claim what fans saw during the final challenge is not the whole story, and Jin-yong was not the winner.
Woo Jin-yong battled Jung Hae-min during the ‘Physical 100’ finale
Fans were blown away when one of their fan favorites to reach the Physical 100 finale lost during the Sisyphus challenge. Olympian Yun Sung-bin lost to Hae-min, making him one of the five finalists. Hae-min, Kim Min-chae, Jo Jin-hyeong, Park Jin-yong, and Woo Jin-yong had one glorious meal before battling to see who would be the winner.
The first challenge was a five-way tug-of-war that fans felt was a disadvantage to Min-chae, leading to his elimination. The final challenge left only Hae-min and Jin-yong against one another. In one final push for victory, the two competitors stood across from each other. They had to pull a heavy rope wound around a barrel. The first to reach the end and undo the rope would be crowned the winner of Physical 100, and the title went to Jin-yong.
At the start, fans believed Hae-min had a higher chance of winning as he was faster at pulling the rope. Jin-yong was noticeably struggling to muster the strength to keep going. But Hae-min also began to show some strain. The remaining Physical 100 contestants showed their camaraderie by cheering them on.
In the blink of an eye, one of them had reached the end of their rope, announcing their victory. Jin-yong’s win was emotional as fans learned his backstory as a retired snowboarding cross athlete and why he joined Physical 100. Hae-min also congratulated him. But recent investigative reports claim Jin-yong is not the winner of Physical 100 as there were multiple rounds and edits.
Reports explain the final round on ‘Physical 100’ was done in three parts
According to Koreaboo, two news outlets dived into the possible manipulation that occurred during the Physical 100 finale that called Jin-yong the winner. Wikitree reported that fans noticed during the match that Hae-min’s rope appeared stuck or harder to pull than Jin-yong’s. The news outlet, Ilyo Shinmun, went even further to investigate the final round and gathered comments from the cast and staff, who remain unnamed.
They claim that Hae-min was in the lead when the challenge started, but Jin-yong stopped the round. He reportedly told the staff that there were technical issues with his equipment. “The production team checked the game equipment and confirmed there was nothing wrong,” explained the report. Hae-min also commented that the equipment could squeak at first. The production team then lubricated both of their equipment to be sure. Because the challenge was stopped, it was the end of the first round with no winner.
What the report states about the second round will surprise fans. The second round ended with Hae-min as the winner of Physical 100. But in a turn of events, the staff claimed they had to do a rematch due to “audio issues.”
An insider told Ilyo Shinmun that staff members tried to convince Hae-min to do the rematch. They would shorten the rope to make up for the issue. Hae-min supposedly commented he was too tired after the first two rounds but ended up agreeing, which led to Jin-yong as the winner.
Hae-min tell his story about the supposed manipulation of the ‘Physical 100’ winner
In light of the report’s details, how did the other contestants not notice? Fans will remember that the remaining contestants watched Hae-min and Jin-yong from another room. But they were close enough for Hae-min and Jin-yong to hear them during the challenge. The report explains that because they were separated, the other contestants would not have seen what was happening.
An insider believes Hae-min should have never accepted the rematch. “It’s not like the athletes can get a rematch at the Olympics because the broadcasting companies had issues with the audio,” said Associate A. Another Physical 100 believes it is why Hae-min has not done press since the finale. “I believe Jung Hae Min not associating himself with Physical: 100 in any way following the show has to do with what happened on set,” said Associate B.
But Hae-min has broken his silence about the scandal. According to The Straits Times, Hae-min says he felt pressured to do a re-match after having won the second round. He reiterated many times to the staff that he had no energy. “Back then, I felt a sort of pressure that the rematch could not be helped, even if I had continued to say no. My head was filled with the thought, ‘Am I not allowed to win this?’” he explained.
He further explained he is unsure if the staff really did cut the rope shorter and was unsure of faulty equipment, “but the rope wouldn’t budge. I lost.” Netflix has commented, “We have confirmed with the production team at MBC that there were no technical issues with either of the game equipment. We would also like to confirm that Jung Hae Min did not request a rematch.”
