‘Physical 100’: Woo Jin-yong Didn’t Think He’d Go Far, ‘I Don’t Like Flexibility’
The winner of Netflix’s Physical 100 was hard to predict since it started with a huge cast. Woo Jin-yong talked about having low expectations when he got the call to do the show.
[SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Physical 100 episode 9.]
Woo beat Jung Hae-min on ‘Physical 100’
The season started with 100 cast members with diverse body types and abilities. The final four somewhat represented that.
Jo Jin-hyeong was the biggest as The Strongman title winner. Park Jin-yong was a national team luger. Kim Min-cheol had a much leaner build as a mountain rescuer and was on the national team for ice climbing. Jung Hae-min was the second biggest man and came from cycling.
Lastly, there was Woo, a former national snowboarder who currently does Crossfit. The final challenge came between him and Jung. It focused on strength since they had to pull on a long and heavy rope. It seemed like things were in Jung’s favor as a bigger guy. Woo also did an extra round of the square flip challenge. But Woo came out on top, and Jung was exhausted.
“First, I wanna say glory and thanks to God,” Woo said in the episode. “I also want to thank my parents for supporting me for over 30 years. And to those who let me compete with them up until this point, to the other 99 contestants, thank you.”
Woo didn’t think he’d go far on ‘Physical 100’
The winner took many people by surprise. Woo told W Korea how he got the call to join the Netflix show.
“There was a call to the CrossFit Center for Physical: 100,” he said. “When I heard the production intention, I rather thought, ‘It could be against me.’ I don’t like flexibility. If men and women mixed and fought, that part seemed to catch my ankle. My goal was, ‘Let’s do it above 50’.”
Luckily, the game didn’t test for flexibility. He reached beyond his goal by finishing as number one. So what’s next for the CrossFit Center owner and former national snowboarder?
“I haven’t realized my dream of the Olympics yet,” he said. “One day, as a national team coach, I want to go to the Olympics with the athletes. I believe it will be possible for the 2026 Italian Olympics.”
Could cross-fitters be the ones to watch if there’s a season 2?
The season started with many athletes in the CrossFit community. Caro was famous for his YouTube channel, and other cast members noticed him. But he didn’t survive past the one-on-one match.
CrossFit is high-interval training focusing on movements that would help their everyday life. These movements vary, which could be great preparation for a game like Physical 100.
Time will tell if the show gets a second season, and if so, will another CrossFit athlete replicate Woo’s success? Or will other contestants try to eliminate them earlier to increase their chances of winning?
