Bobsleigh duo wins Korea's first World Cup gold
Bobsleigh duo Won Yun-jong, right, and Seo Young-woo pose after winning Korea’s first gold medal at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup race in Whistler, Canada, Saturday. / Courtesy of Korea Bobsleigh Skeleton Federation
By Nam Hyun-woo
Korea’s bobsleigh duo Won Yun-jong and Seo Young-woo clinched the nation’s first-ever gold medal at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup race, Saturday (Korea Standard Time).
It raised the team’s World Cup ranking and expectations for the next Winter Olympics host country.
At the first two-man bobsleigh race of the BMW IBSF World Cup in Whistler, Canada, pilot Won and his brakeman Seo shared the top spot with the Swiss duo of Rico Peter and Thomas Amrhein after clocking a combined 1:43.41 (51.63 seconds in the first run and 51.78 in the second run).
Russia’s pairing of Alexander Kasjanov and Aleksei Pushkarev came just 0.01 second behind the Koreans and the Swiss to clinch a bronze.
In what IBSF described “the closest-ever race in World Cup history,” Won and Seo finished the first run in second place and fell to fifth in the second run as their bobsled slipped before the finish line.
However, the Russians, who were on top of the standings in the first run, clocked 51.81 seconds (sixth place) in the second run, leading Won and Seo to become the first Asians to stand atop the IBSF World Cup podium.
The performance in the fifth of eight races at the IBSF event pushed Won to the top of the two-man bobsleigh World Cup rankings.
In four previous races from November last year, Won and Seo captured three bronzes and one sixth-place finish.
The duo dedicated their historic victory to former Korean national team head coach Malcom “Gomer” Lloyd, who abruptly passed away earlier this month. Lloyd’s wife visited Whistler to root for Won and Seo.
“I wish Lloyd was here, but his wife came and watched us, which made a good result,” Won told IBSF. “Thank you, Gomer.”
On Sunday, Won and Seo raced in the sixth of eight races at the same venue but failed to make a consecutive podium finish, remaining at ninth place with a combined 1:43.54 (51.63 seconds in the first run and 51.91 in the second run). Despite the result, Won remained at the top of the rankings with 1,153 points, 79 points clear of second-placed Ugis Zalims of Latvia.
Meanwhile, skeleton racer Yun Sung-bin claimed a bronze in the first run at the sixth round of the cup, Sunday. He clocked a combined 1:45.24 (52.75 in the first run and 52.49 in the second run) to bag his fifth consecutive medal in five races.
With the result, Yun rose to second place in the world rankings with 1,140 points, following champion Martins Dukurs of Latvia with 1,350 points.
Three-time world champion Martins Dukurs set 1:44.31 to win the race and his elder brother Tomass came in second with 1:44.59. During the race, the Dukurs shattered the Olympic skeleton record at Whistler Sliding Center, which had not been broken in six years. Tomass Dukurs is third in the world rankings.