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| Park Seung-hi races during the women's 500 meter speed skating event at the Taeneung International Skating Rink, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
The 96th National Winter Sports Festival kicked off its four-day run in five regions across Korea Wednesday, with its opening ceremony held at Yongpyong Resort in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province.
More than 2,600 athletes from 17 cities and provinces will compete in five sports (skating, ice hockey, skiing, biathlon and curling) and two demonstration sports (ski jumping and mogul skiing). The competition is expected to offer a glimpse of potential future stars for the PyeongChang Olympics in three years time.
Snow sports events, including alpine skiing and cross country, will take place at venues in Gangwon Province. Of note is Magnus Kim, a South Korean-Norwegian who will compete in the biathlon and cross country events. Born to a South Korean mother and Norwegian father, the 16-year-old prodigy clinched four golds and one silver in the previous National Winter Sports Festival and hopes to claim five golds for the first time in the competition's history.
Also, Kwon Yong-jeong, 63, will compete in the alpine ski event as the oldest athlete in the competition.
At Ulsan College ice rink, figure skating starlets Park So-youn and Kim Hae-jin will compete to be the heir to Kim Yu-na.
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| Kim Jong-deok, minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, speaks at the opening ceremony of the National Winter Sports Festival, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
Long-track speed skaters Park Seung-hi, a former short-track star who switched to long-track last year, and Lee Seung-hoon, the Vancouver Games gold-medalist in the 10,000-meter event and the winner of the mass start event at the fifth stage of the ISU World Cup earlier this month, raced at the Taeneung International Skating Rink on the outskirts of Seoul.
In the 500-meter race, Park clocked 40.60, following her national teammate Lee Bo-ra, who finished the race in 40.34.
"I thought it (long-track speed skating) would be similar to short-track skating, but it was way different," Park told Yonhap News Agency. "I should focus on building basic posture properly again."
Park will race in the 1,000-meter event on Thursday. Park said she is more confident at the longer distance.
Two-time Olympic speed skating champion Lee Sang-hwa and another Vancouver Games gold medalist Mo Tae-bum will miss this event to rest before upcoming international competitions.
Short-track speed skaters expected to be strong favorites at the PyeongChang Games will compete at the Hwasan Gymnasium in Jeonju.
Ice Hockey games and curling events will be held at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul and Seonhak International Ice Rink in Incheon.
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