Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Paralympians honored for lifetime achievements
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Australian alpine skier Toby Kane
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Australian Paralympic alpine skier Toby Kane and Dutch snowboarder Bibian Mentel-Spee were named as the latest winners of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, which celebrates athletes with disabilities.
The award, established by the International Paralympic Committee in 1988, is named after Whang, a 76-year-old Korean doctor who has dedicated her life to the development of Paralympic sports.
In his third Paralympic appearance, Kane won a bronze at the Sochi Paralympics. The 27-year-old, who has been skiing for more than 15 years, said that Sochi will be his last Paralympic event. Mentel-Spee, who won the women’s prize, won the gold medal in the snowboard-cross, a discipline first introduced in Sochi.
“I am honored and very humbled to receive an award celebrating the Paralympics spirit,” said Kane. “I am a very proud Paralympian and I really believe in sport for people with a disability in terms of what they can show the world.’’
Mentel-Spee said: “I'm just overwhelmed with the fact that I've received the reward.”
The award ceremony will be held at the Fisht Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Paralympics on Monday (KST).
Dutch snowboarder Bibian Mentel-Spee