In 2007, the year he turned 21, he took up snowboarding in Canada, where he had gone for language study as a university student. Yonhap News Agency writes that he had been on the national team since 2010. He says that in 2012 he became the only snowboard cross national team member, without a coach.
In 2015 he won the men’s open division of board cross at the Edaily amateur freestyle ski competition. In 2016 he placed 52nd among 53 competitors in qualifying at the FIS Snowboard World Cup men’s cross in Pyeongchang. He says that around 2017, ahead of the Pyeongchang Olympics, the snowboard cross national team effectively ceased to exist. In 2021 he began running a CrossFit gym.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 37, he entered Netflix’s Physical: 100 and beat the keirin cyclist Jung Hae-min in the final episode, taking the 300 million won prize. That is when his name became known.
In 2024 he was introduced as a celebrity participant at HYROX Incheon 2024, Korea’s first HYROX event. In 2026 he spoke in a Seoul Economic Daily interview about his national team days and the Winter Olympics snowboarding result.
Woo Jin-yong (born 1986) took up snowboarding in Canada in 2007, the year he turned 21, and became known on Feb 21, 2023, the year he turned 37, when he won Netflix’s Physical: 100.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Took up snowboarding in Canada, where he had gone for language study as a university student.
Source 01 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with a first-generation snowboard national team member · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Snowboard World Cup men’s cross qualifying · opens in a new tab The year is from his own statement. The month and day are not in the articles.Yonhap News Agency wrote that he had been on the national team since 2010.
Source 02 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Snowboard World Cup men’s cross qualifying · opens in a new tab He says he became the only snowboard cross national team member in 2012, without a coach, so the timing differs. This record follows Yonhap.He says he contacted the ski and snowboard federation himself and became the only national team member in the event, without a coach. He says there were no facilities in Korea, so he had to train abroad in places such as Australia and Chile.
Source 01 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with a first-generation snowboard national team member · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Daily Hankook (Korean) · Job of the Physical: 100 winner · opens in a new tab The timing differs from the 2010 national-team record. The month and day are not in the articles.Won the men’s open division of board cross at the 2015 KG-Edaily Amateur Freestyle Ski Competition.
Source 03 · Edaily (Korean) · Amateur freestyle ski competition · opens in a new tabPlaced 52nd among 53 competitors in qualifying at the event held at Bogwang Phoenix Park in Pyeongchang. 48 advanced to the finals.
Source 02 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Snowboard World Cup men’s cross qualifying · opens in a new tabHe says the snowboard cross national team effectively ceased to exist as the federation concentrated support on a few events ahead of the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Source 01 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with a first-generation snowboard national team member · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Daily Hankook (Korean) · Job of the Physical: 100 winner · opens in a new tab The year is taken from his statement that it was a year before the Pyeongchang Olympics. The exact timing could not be confirmed.After getting his instructor certification, he began running a gym. A 2023 article lists him as head of JD CrossFit in Anyang and CrossFit Namsan in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
Source 01 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with a first-generation snowboard national team member · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Pinpoint News (Korean) · Woo Jin-yong’s age and job · opens in a new tab The month and day are not in the articles.He said in the final episode that he entered hoping to raise the profile of snowboard cross.
Source 05 · Pinpoint News (Korean) · Woo Jin-yong’s age and job · opens in a new tabSource 06 · News Inside (Korean) · Final winner’s remarks · opens in a new tabWon the final, the infinite rope pull, over the keirin cyclist Jung Hae-min in the last episode. The show became the first Korean variety show to reach No. 1 on Netflix’s global non-English TV list.
Said he gave his father 100 million won of the prize after tax.
Source 07 · OSEN (Korean) · Appearance on Cultwo Show · opens in a new tabPosted that the claim that he raised his hand first and stopped the match was not true.
Source 08 · iMBC Entertainment (Korean) · Statement on the final-match controversy · opens in a new tabDirector Jang Ho-gi showed the original footage at a press conference and said the claim that Woo Jin-yong raised his hand first and stopped the first match was not true. He explained that the production team asked to stop it because of noise and the contestants’ safety.
Source 14 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Physical: 100 original footage released · opens in a new tabAppeared in the first episode as the first applicant in the player audition. He talked about the training conditions from his national team days in snowboard cross.
Source 09 · Newsen (Korean) · First episode of The Gentlemen’s League 3 · opens in a new tabMoved on to the second audition with Nam Hee-doo, Park Jung-min and Sung Jin-su and played a match on a team with the existing players.
Source 10 · Xportsnews (Korean) · The Gentlemen’s League 3, second audition · opens in a new tabWas introduced as one of the celebrities at Korea’s first HYROX event.
Source 11 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · HYROX held in Incheon · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Dailian (Korean) · The second HYROX event · opens in a new tabIn an interview as head of CrossFit Namsan, he spoke about Kim Sang-kyum, who trained with him in his national team days and won silver at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He said he plans to keep promoting CrossFit.
Source 01 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with a first-generation snowboard national team member · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2007–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Sports · South Korea
1986 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1986: the year of the event minus 1986, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.30 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.