‘Physical 100’: The Touching Reason why Kim Sik Saved Sung-bin From the Atlas Challenge

Some of the contestants of Netflix’s Physical 100 know each other thanks to their impressive careers as national athletes or through their following on social media as fitness celebrities. Physical 100 revealed the surprising connection between contestants Kim Sik and the Olympic skeleton racer Yun Sung-bin. Their past together led Kim Sik to save his fellow teammate from the Atlas challenge.

The Atlas challenge on ‘Physical 100’ was the one everyone wanted to avoid

Before the finale, only five contestants could move on out of the remaining 20. The teams that won the ship quest would have to delegate a member for five challenges in the fourth quest. Physical 100 used notable figures from Greek mythology as inspiration for the challenging feats of athleticism.

The one challenge the contestants were wary of was The Punishment of Atlas. Based on the Greek story, Atlas helped others lead a rebellion against Zeus. After being unsuccessful, Zeus punished Atlas by forcing him to hold the weight of the sky on his shoulders. Many would recognize the statue of Atlas holding a round boulder. He was deemed to hold the weight for eternity until he was turned to stone by Perseus.

For Physical 100, The Punishment of Atlas was a literal interpretation. One contestant from each team had to hold a roughly 110 lbs boulder on their shoulders. The last person standing wins. Compared to the other challenges, Atlas’s was the worst. When deciding who would partake for Physical 100, Kim Sik put on a brave face to help Yun Sung-bin for a reason.

‘Physical 100’ contestant Kim Sik is Olypian Yun Sung-bin’s coach

It is no surprise that some of the contestants of the Korean unscripted series know each other. Physical 100’s Agent H is good friends with the other UDT soldiers JJang Jae and Hong Beom-seok. But the competition series revealed the surprising and close connection Kim Sik has with Sung-bin.

Sung-bin was one of the team leaders during the bridge and ship challenge. On his team was Kim Sik, and when it came down to picking the fourth quest challenges, he surprised fans with his selfless decision. Everyone wanted to avoid the Atlas challenge, but many felt Sung-bin had enough strength to withhold the boulder’s weight. But even Sung-bin and Kim Sik were wary.

Kim Sik felt the challenge was a guaranteed loss. After a just game of rock-paper-scissors, Sung-bin was begrudgingly ready to stamp his name next to the challenge. But Kim Sik stopped him and said he would take on The Atlas Punishment. The reason is touching, and it was revealed that Kim Sik is Sung-bin’s skeleton coach.

“I’ve known him for a long time, and I’m actually his coach. If he entered that game and lost, it would be a waste of his physique. I did it because he was the most likely one on our team to reach the final.”

Having trained the Olympian to a gold medal, Kim Sik had the utmost faith in his mentee and his success rate in winning Physical 100. When it came time for the challenge, Kim Sik was up against Jo Jin-hyeong. After an impressively long battle, Jin-hyeong was victorious.

Kim Sik was a former bobsledder turned coach

Standing at six-foot and 220 lbs, Kim Sik has had an impressive athletic career. During the Sochi 2014 Olympics, he was part of a 4-man team but placed 28th overall. He then became a skeleton coach for the Pyeong Chang 2018 Olympics and the Beijing 2022 Olympics. One of his pupils is Physical 100’s Sung-bin.

Believe it or not, The Atlas Punishment was not the first time Kim Sik had faced Jin-hyeong. He competed against him in the Strongman competition, where Jin-hyeong was also victorious. His Instagram, @sikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, has over 11K followers.

While he does not have many posts, fans get to see a bit of his life in the gym and as an Olympic coach. Kim Sik advocates for volunteer work like picking up trash and helping local farms with his team. He is 37 years old and celebrated his birthday in November.