Actress Lee Si Young Will Try Out For The Olympics

Actress Lee Si Young, last seen in "Valid Love," will be trying out for the Olympics.

And it's not a role she will play in a film or a drama. Although she first studied boxing for a role in a 2010 drama, she is a well-regarded amateur boxer.

According to her agency J Wide Company, she will compete for a spot on the national boxing team, with the first round of tryouts taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

When she first decided to take up boxing as a hobby, her agency was not happy with the idea. But they could not persuade her to give up her newfound hobby.

She participated in several amateur boxing matches and tried out for the national women's boxing team.

"I kept it up as a hobby and was told that I had potential, so I trained really hard," she said in a 2014 interview with the Korean media outlet, Chosun Ilbo. "Boxing changed who I am. I became more honest and extroverted, with more self-confidence."

She felt validated in her determination when she won the women's 48-kg category in the 2011 National Amateur Boxing Championships. There were accusations alleging bias in the judging when she won a National Amateur Boxing Championship in 2013. According to Reuters, The Korean Boxing Federation was accused of giving her an unfair bias due to her celebrity status, but a review of the decision determined that her win was valid.

Lee Si Young's bid for the Olympics will be her second attempt to represent Korea at an international multi-sport event. She wanted to take part in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games as part of the Incheon City Boxing Team. A dislocated shoulder interfered with her plans and almost led her to give up boxing. But she did not quit and she keeps fighting. Her shoulder injury is not the only time the actress was hurt while boxing. She also had surgery for a slipped disc and a knee injury.

Although Lee Si Young could not participate in the Incheon Games, she cheered on her teammates and donated almost $10,000 to the Incheon Athletic Association. The money was used to improve the association's equipment and facilities.

In "Valid Love," Lee Si Young was a woman who loved two men, played by Uhm Tae Woong and Lee Soo Hyuk. She also had roles in the dramas "Boys Over Flowers," "Playful Kiss," "wild Romance" and "Golden Cross." In 2014 she also appeared in the film "Divine Move."

The actress describes boxing as her "dream."