Vancouver Bound: Korea Sending 45 to Olympics
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Figure skater Kim Yu-na headlines South Korea’s roster of 45 athletes who will compete at the Vancouver Olympics next month.
The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) announced Tuesday that it has finalized its roster for the Games and will dispatch 45 athletes in four disciplines skating, skiing, biathlon and sliding to next month’s quadrennial event.
Skating is comprised of long-track and short-track speed skating and figure skating, while skiing is subdivided into alpine, cross country, ski jump, freestyle and snowboard.
The total of 45 is the second-largest group of athletes Korea has sent to the Winter Games, just shy of the 48 Olympians from the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, with the addition of 37 officials, including coaches, the 82-strong 2010 Korean contingent that will march into BC Place in downtown Vancouver for the Opening Ceremonies will be the largest ever seven more than in 2002.
Skating, with 28 athletes, will make up the biggest contingent.
Long track will send 16 skaters to the Richmond Olympic Oval, including medal hopefuls Lee Kyou-hyuk, Lee Kang-seok and Lee Sang-hwa. A total of 10 short-track skaters will fly to Canada to try to continue their dominance on the Olympic ice. In women’s figure skating, 15-year-old national junior champion Kwak Min-jung will join gold medal favorite Kim Yu-na.
Skiing will go with 10 athletes, including ski jumpers Choi Heung-chul, Kim Hyun-ki and Choi Yong-jik. Veteran Kang Kwang-bae qualified with teams in both the two- and four-man bobsleigh, and Cho In-ho is the nation’s lone entry in the skeleton.
The 21st Winter Olympics will begin on Feb. 12 and conclude on the 28. The Korean Olympic Committee has set a goal of finishing in the top-10 in gold medals with a target of six.
The Far East country placed seventh in the overall medal count in 2006, collecting six gold (all in short-track speed skating), three silver and two bronze medals.
Korea’s 2010 Olympians
Skating
Long-Track Speed Skating:
Male: Lee Kyou-hyuk, Lee Kang-seok, Mo Tae-bum, Mun Joon, Lee Ki-ho, Lee Seung-hoon, Lee Jong-woo, Ha Hong-sun.
Female: Lee Sang-hwa, Lee Bo-ra, Oh Min-ji, Ahn Jee-min, Lee Ju-youn, Noh Seon-yeong, Park Do-young, Kim You-lim
Short-Track
Male: Lee Ho-suk, Sung Si-bak, Lee Jung-soo, Kim Seoung-il, Kwak, Yoon-gy
Female: Cho Ha-ri, Park Seung-hi, Lee Eun-byul, Choi Jung-won, Kim Min-jung
Figure Skating: Kim Yu-na, Kwak Min-jung
Ski
Alpine: Male: Jung Dong-hyun, Kim Woo-sung
Female: Kim Sun-joo
Cross Country
Male: Lee Jun-gil
Female: Lee Chae-won
Ski Jump
Male: Choi Heung-chul, Kim Hyun-ki, Choi Yong-jik
Snowboard:
Male: Kim Ho-jun
Freestyle
Female: Seo Jung-hwa
Biathlon
Male: Lee In-bok
Female: Mun Ji-hee
Sliding:
Bobsleigh: Kang Kwang-bae, Kim Jung-su, Lee Jin-hee, Kim Dong-hyun
Skeleton:
Cho In-ho