One of the coolest stories to come out of the 2006 Torino Olympics, in my opinion, is the story of Toby Dawson. The story wasn’t finished at the Olympics, it had only just begun.

During the Olympics, you may have heard that Dawson, who took home a bronze medal in the moguls, was adopted from Korea. The fact that his adoption made his Olympic dream possible would have been an interesting enough story. The rest of the story is even more amazing.

The amazing part of the story started in 1981. A man named Kim Jae-su was shopping in a crowded Korean marketplace with his son, Kim Bong-seok. He lost his child. Although he made a valiant effort to find his son, looking through orphanages in the country, he never found him.

It turns out, Kim Bong-seok had been adopted by American parents, and was renamed… Toby Dawson. Friends of Kim Jae-su saw Dawson competing in the Olympics, and thought that there was a resemblance. Since his missing son was about the same age as Dawson, he decided to look into the matter. After the Olympics, many people tried to claim Dawson as their biological son, but DNA tests proved who the real father was.

After the Olympics, Dawson retired from skiing. In 2007, he was able to meet his real father, along with his biological younger brother. You can read more about the family reunion in various news stories.

Related Posts with Thumbnails