Skier Sin wins South Korea's first medal at PyeongChang Paralympics
Nordic skier Sin Eui-hyun crosses the finish line in the men’s 15-kilometer sitting cross-country race at the Alpensia Biathlon Center in the eastern county of PyeongChang on Sunday. / Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Nordic skier Sin Eui-hyun won South Korea’s first medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, Sunday.
Sin, 37, finished third in the men’s 15-kilometer sitting cross-country skiing race, with 42 minutes and 28.09 seconds at the Alpensia Biathlon Center in the eastern county of PyeongChang, taking the bronze.
He is the first Korean to win a medal in Nordic skiing at Paralympics. There are no Korean skiers who won a medal in cross-country skiing at Olympics.
His victory came a day after he finished fifth in the men’s 7.5-kilometer sitting cross-country skiing. He was a gold medal favorite in the sport.
Revealing his frustration after the race on Saturday, Sin shed tears as he met his parents.
“I didn’t cry yesterday. It was sweat, not tears,” a beaming Sin told reporters. “After yesterday’s race, I kept trying to be optimistic (because I had another race today)... No matter what happened to me, it’s great to win an Olympic medal.”
He said he would have screamed if he had won a gold medal in the 7.5-kilometer race.
He had his legs amputated in a seven-hour operation after a car crash in February 2006, a day before he graduated from university.
Sin said he was shocked and had since spent years drinking and blaming his parents for the tragic accident.
His life took a dramatic turn in fall 2009 when he was encouraged by a friend to play wheelchair basketball. He said it made him feel alive and that he could do anything. He explored ice sledge hockey and other sports and finally joined the Nordic skiing national team in August 2015. He wrote history in South Korea’s Nordic skiing two years and seven months later.
“I’ve come here after trying many things. I strongly encourage my fellow disabled men and women to try something new,” he said.
Sin will hunt for another Paralympic medal on Tuesday in the men’s 12.5-kilomter sitting cross-country skiing.