By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
South Korea's Gangwon Province has been holding winter sports competitions in preparation at launching a bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2018.
The province already held the International Ski Federation (FIS) Snowboard World Championships last month and is currently hosting the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Biathlon World Championships, a 10-day event that is scheduled to end Feb. 22.
More than 600 athletes from around 40 countries have gathered to compete in the event.
Since 1958, all biathlon championships have never been held outside Europe, making Korea the first non-European host.
Though biathlon is not a well-known sport in Asia, it is very popular ― the combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting ― in Europe and Western countries.
The event is a golden opportunity to promote Korea, especially in Europe, a European participant said.
During last year's IBU World Cup in PyeongChang ― also the first time that event was held outside Europe ― the seventh event in a nine-leg series, 21 European television stations broadcast the competition to 110 million spectators.
In rifle shooting, competitors must hit five targets 50 meters away, with each missed target required to be atoned for in one of three ways.
They are a one-minute time penalty, being forced to ski around a 150-metrer penalty loop and the use of an extra cartridge.
The biathlon is comprised of 11 specific events, divided into individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start, relay, mixed relay and super sprint.
South Korea has had competitive biathlon athletes since the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the East Asians have yet to record a podium finish ― with the best record 37th by Mun Ji-hee with a time of 23 minutes 12.2 seconds in the women's sprint at the Pyeongchang World Cup.
The South Korean team's head coach Shin Yong-sun manages eight biathletes with two other coaches under poor circumstances, lacking a training site.
In the past, the athletes have been forced to train on roller skis on dry ground ― not on a slope covered with snow ― and they take shooting practice twice per week at the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps training center.
But after the Alpensia Biathlon Stadium, which earned an A-License from the IBU, was built in December 2007, the athletes were provided with a platform with which to compete better at World Cup competitions.
Now the Korean biathletes are poised to fly the flag for their country on home soil.
``We have a long way to go before overcoming the non-popular athlete's sorrow,'' Korean record holder Moon said.
In the men's competition, Lee In-bok is Korea's top-ranked player. The 24 year old has also participated in the international competition the highest number of times.
``Representing my country is an honor. I will do my best to let the world know the Korean biathlon,'' Lee said.
South Korean fans also have the opportunity to see top-tier biathlon athletes in PyeongChang.
Among them, Emil Hegle Svendsen is one of the best in the world. The Norwegian gathered four gold medals at the Junior World Championships. Though the 24-year-old failed to produce a good record in 2005 and 2006, he finally won gold at last year's World Championships. And Svendsen also added two golds in the sprint and mixed relay at the PyeonChang World Cup.
Svendsen's compatriot Ole Elnar Bjorndalen is another bidding to reclaim a place at the top of the sport. The 35 year old had clinched the top podium 76 times and he has brought Norway five gold medals from Winter Olympic competitions, along with 21 World Championship gold medals. Though Bjorndalen failed to earn a single gold last year, he is still one of the strong candidates for the No. 1 spot.
The German veteran Michael Greis has also come to Korea. The 33-year-old grabbed three gold medals at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006.
On the women's side, Andrea Henkel of Germany is in the running for gold, with the 32-year-old producing two gold medal-winning performances at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Her compatriot Kati Wilhelm, 33, has joined her in Pyeongchang. She too brought her country three Olympic gold medals in 2002.