Delegation continues to grow

By Kwon Ji-youn

With just a little more than two weeks before the start of the Sochi Winter Games, the number of qualified Korean Olympians continues to grow.

Korean athletes who have booked their spots in Sochi increased to a record 64 on Monday after the International Ski Federation announced the list of skiing athletes who will compete at the mega sporting event slated for Feb. 7-23. Korea will send 13 skiers to the Russian resort town ― five in alpine skiing events and two each for the cross country, ski jump, freestyle and snowboard competitions.

At Sochi, Koreans will compete in every event except for ice hockey. The country’s delegation, already significantly larger than the 48 athletes it sent to the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, could grow further in the coming weeks with more spots up for grabs in the luge and bobsleigh competitions. Korean ski jumpers are also high up the reserve list for qualification.

The nation will send 15 speed skaters, 10 short-track speed skaters and three figure skaters to the Russian city, as well as five athletes in curling, two in the biathlon event, 10 in bobsleigh, two in skeleton and four in luge.

At the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010, only six athletes participated in sledding events and just 10 in the ski competitions.

Bobsledders will take part in the two-man and two-woman events for the first time after Korea was represented only in the four-man event at the Vancouver Games. Korea also qualified for every luge discipline in Sochi for the first time, while the female curling national team booked its first Olympic ticket.

Hopes are high for this year’s Olympics. Reigning Olympic champions Kim Yu-na and Lee Sang-hwa are favored to defend their gold medals. Olympic champions Lee Seung-hoon and Mo Tae-bum are also headed to Sochi as serious contenders in speed skating. Short track speed skater Shim Suk-hee is considered to have a shot at Olympic hardware.

Skeleton athlete Yoon Sung-bin is also a candidate for the podium, having snagged the gold medal at the sixth Confederation Cup event of the season at Whistler, Canada, on Jan. 7, the first gold Korea has won in the sport at an international competition. Korea also secured a second spot in the sport, qualifying Lee Han-sin for the Sochi Games.