The Korean athletes participating in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics expressed their strong ambitions.
At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics G-30 Media Day event held on the 5th at the Jincheon National Athlete’s Village in North Chungcheong Province, the athletes representing the three sports – speed skating, short track speed skating, and curling – participated in the Beijing Winter Olympics and said, “We will prepare well for the rest of the month. I will do well in the Olympics.”
The Beijing Winter Olympic Games kicked off on February 4 and will be held in Beijing, China for 17 days until the 20th. As of the same day, the Korean team secured a total of 32 tickets in 5 detailed events. Currently, the Korea Sports Association expects the expected participation of the Korean team to be 110 players (50 officers and 60 officers) in a total of 6 sports.
The Korean team set the goal of winning one or two gold medals and placing them in the top 15 overall rankings. Ki-heung Lee, president of the Korea Sports Association, said on Media Day that day, “As I said before, the goal of this tournament is to win 1 or 2 gold medals and rank 15th overall. Considering the various circumstances, it is difficult to win many gold medals.” The reason the Korean team set the target conservatively is that the main event, short track speed skating, is being shaken by internal and external exchanges due to the Shim Seok-hee scandal. In addition, the recent World Cup performance in events expected to receive additional gold medals, such as skeleton, dropped sharply.
However, the players did not lose their confidence. Bo-reum Kim (Gangwon Provincial Government), long-distance ace of the women’s speed skating team, said, “All athletes set personal goals and compete in the competition. Kim Seon-young (Gangneung City Hall), the lead of the women’s national curling team ‘Team Kim’, also said, “Just because the Korea Sports Association has set the expected number of gold medals low doesn’t mean we can’t win medals. Rather, the burden was reduced. I will not be disappointed and will focus more on trying to get a medal.”
In addition, short track speed skating ‘eldest brother’ Kwak Yoon-ki (Goyang City Hall) said, “I am looking forward to the men’s relay, Choi Min-jung and the men’s 500-meter Hwang Dae-heon competing in the women’s 1500m.” Among the players, I play first, and I will make sure to put the first button on well.”
Meanwhile, the Korea Sports Association unveiled the uniforms of the Korean athletes to be worn at official events such as the opening ceremony and at the athletes’ village. The uniform for the opening and closing ceremonies is a goose down padded jumper, designed with the motif of the Taebaek Mountains, the backbone of the Korean Peninsula. The uniform, which looks like an ink painting of the snowy Taebaek Mountains, highlights the strength of the players. The Taebaek Mountain Range design also entered the team equipment, such as travel bags. The awards ceremony uniforms and daily wear uniforms were made of white training clothes, and the Taegeukgi’s Gungon Supervision line stands out.
Jincheon = Reporter Jeong Se-young
