Kang Kwang-bae Leads Sliding Teams Into Vancouver
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Kang Kwang-bae arrived at the Incheon International Airport last week to a gaggle of fans and media. Kang, one of Korea’s most remarkable athletes, is back home after having qualified for the Olympics in both the 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh.
Kang and his teams will be joined in Vancouver next month by Cho In-ho in the skeleton and Lee Yong in the luge, filling out a Korean sliding team that won’t be favorites for medals but will have accomplished a lot just by being there.
Kang is without question the pioneer of sliding sports in Korea. At the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, he competed in the luge. He then switched to the skeleton, in which he competed at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. In Vancouver, he will be competing in his third and fourth events.
But Kang hasn’t always been greeted by fans and reporters at the airport. It’s taken time, and an appearance on a popular television program for him to gain some popularity here.
“First of all, I am very proud of what I accomplished,” Kang told The Korea Times Wednesday. “For me, it is really a great honor.”
Kang is both the pilot and coach of the national bobsleigh teams, which were only organized two years ago, in 2008.
“It is really great that this sport is getting more attention from fans and press.”
The 36-year-old owes some of that attention to his appearance on the popular comedy television show “Moohandojeon” last year.
“It was a really great thing for us,” he said, “but it also came with a big burden, because we are not close to contending for a medal. We already worry that our domestic fans will be very disappointed in us in Vancouver.”
He explained that the bobsleigh teams have different goals, both for these Olympics and for the future of the sport.
“We are laying the foundations for sliding events here. We just hope that future Korea sliding athletes are supported by the government so they can challenge the best.”
Korea is the second Asian country, after Japan, to send a bobsleigh team to the Olympics and qualified ahead of their continental rivals.
However, in 4-man qualifying, Kang teamed with two import push men. The rules set by the sport’s governing body state that foreigners can be used on the World Cup as long as the pilot is a national of the country the team is representing. However, the team that competes at the Olympics will have to be all Korean, which means that Kim Dong-hyun, Kim Jung-su and Lee Jin-hee all of whom have less than three years experience in the sport will be in the sled with Kang.
“Our weakness is revealed on our starts,” he said. “We should reinforce our efforts in that area. Because we have new push men, we have to practice more.
Kang’s goal is fairly simple: not world dominance, but Asian dominance.
“Our goal for Vancouver is beating Japan,” he said.
“Of course it will be difficult but the reason that sport is interesting is its character and its uncertainty,” he said with a smile.
But he also hinted that the bar for the future should be set higher.
“I am sure that if the government brings athletes along systematically, Korea can win a gold medal in the bobsleigh. Anyone who wants to try it should start now.”
Skeleton: Cho In-ho
Cho In-ho was inspired to try to make it to the Olympics by, who else, Kang Kwang-bae.
He has replaced Kang as the nation’s only competitive athlete in the skeleton and has been trying to follow in his footsteps.
“When Kang made it to the Olympics, I decided I wanted to do the same,” he said. “I have prepared for the last four years and I felt the pressure. But I also was confident that I could grab a ticket to Vancouver.”
Needing to be ranked 17th or better, Cho sneaked in at 16th. His rank is also the national rank because he is Korea’s only skeleton athlete.
“Korea was usually ranked around 17th, sometimes 18th. But in the end I can go to the Winter Olympics ranked 16th,” Cho said.
His achievement is quite amazing given the road he has taken to get to this point. The 31-year-old first started the skeleton in 2004 and also sometimes ran as a push man in bobsleigh.
Like many other Korean winter sports athletes, Cho doesn’t get the funding that teams from other countries do.
Cho doesn’t have a team of coaches, no video analyst or physical trainer. He travels to events by himself.
“Since I’m alone, there isn’t anyone to tell me how I did. I am eager to learn more and more, so after my runs I ask other countries’ coaches how I did.
“They don’t usually give me any advice, they want to focus only on their own athletes, and I understand that. But I really want to know how I did.”
Cho has learned to roll with the punches and doesn’t let himself get too down about the lack of attention from domestic fans.
“Whenever I realize that I have to compete against someone who learned and trained under good circumstances, I feel sorry for myself. I also wonder how I’m going to beat them.
“And to make matters worse, when my runs don’t improve, I have to endure all of those things alone,” he added.
“What I’d like is to compete with a staff, just like all the others do.”
After he retires, Cho hopes to be able to pass on his knowledge to a next generation of skeleton athletes. And in Vancouver, like Kang, Cho is not thinking about a medal.
“I just want to do better than Kang Kwang-bae, my teacher, did. Of course, if I happen to win a medal, that will be great too.”
Luge
It will be 12 long years between Olympic Games appearances for luger Lee Yong. And the road back has not been an easy one. The 31-year-old first made it to the Olympics in Nagano in 1998. After that, he spent seven years in the military with the special forces. When he completed his service in 2005, he first tried the bobsleigh but eventually decided he really wanted to return to the luge.
It was an expensive decision.
Unlike Cho, Lee is paying for everything himself from his training trips abroad, travel costs for competitions, and even his sled.
And a year ago, his hopes of making it to the Olympics again were almost derailed by an injury.
“I hurt my back last year in the United States in practice. At that time, I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to compete to qualify for the Olympics. But I finally made it.”
But just barely.
Lee knew he was close to qualifying after a World Cup event in Lillehammer, Norway in December. Lee noted that his qualifying bid was almost completely ignored by Korean media. The top 40 ranked athletes earn entry into the Olympic competition and in the end, he was 42nd. It wasn’t until last week that Lee officially earned a wildcard to go to the Games.
“It made me really emotional,” Lee said. “It’s was the first time in 12 years I’ll be going.”
Much like Cho, Lee also has to seek advice from other coaches, because he doesn’t have one himself.
“When I finish my practice runs at competitions, I always try to quickly go and ask other coaches how I did.
“Usually they don’t give me many details. And the language barrier is also a problem for me.
“If only there were a few more domestic luge athletes, we could help each other, by recording video and checking each other’s weaknesses, but I’m the only one.”
Lee is excited to be heading back to the Olympics again.
“Vancouver has the fastest course in the world. I trained there for a week. It was pretty difficult, so I do worry about the Olympics.
“I am ranked pretty low, but my goal is 20th. I will do my best.”
Just like Kang and Cho, Lee has a view for the future of the sport in Korea.
“We can get our first medalist in 10 years, but only if we get full support,” Lee said.