By Park Hye Ri and Yoon Sojung
Photos = Yonhap News

All athletes do their utmost and try to do their best at the Olympics.

They then receive the rewards for their hard work, sometimes on the podium with medals around their necks.

However, as the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron de Coubertin, said, some events and athletes shine by themselves just for their participation.

Such is the case for the inter-Korean women’s ice hockey team and the ski jump athletes from South Korea in the 2018 Winter Games.

The unified women’s ice hockey team lost its final match against Sweden 6-1 in a rankings-only game between the 7th and 8th team. The Korean athletes didn't leave the rink after the final buzzer at the end of the game. They stayed in the rink to hug and console each other with tears.

The unified Korean team was formed less than a month before the opening of the Olympics. It was able to begin training only on Jan. 25. Everything was so different for the athletes. They even had to study their terms before beginning some of their basic strategies. It was hard for them to expect an excellent performance. Some even criticized the team, dubbing it just a political gesture. However, the athletes naturally got along well and overcame the border between South Korea and North Korea.

After the final match, the team’s head coach, Sarah Murray, said with tears in her eyes that she was proud of all of her players, as both the Southern and the Northern athletes played well as one team with no regrets.



There was another big round of applause for the last-place Korean ski jumpers.

In the ski jump men’s team qualifications at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre on Feb. 19, Korean athletes came in last among the 12 participating countries.

Although the Korean team did receive some media spotlight thanks to the movie “Take Off” (2009), it didn't last long. In Korea, ski jumping is still considered an unpopular sport and athletes face all related hardships. Even though the team secured a ticket to the men’s team match for the PyeongChang Games, it didn't have enough athletes to fill the team. The existing athletes, considered to be “the first generation of ski jumpers" -- Choi Heung-Chul and Kim Hyunki -- have now been participating in the Olympics for six consecutive times.

Compared with the past, when they didn't even have a decent ski jump, however, they never stopped trying for a miracle, striving down to the final jumper.

As the true meaning of sports lies in doing one’s best in one's position, regardless of the result, there's no need to give words of comfort to the last-place athletes. Their challenges are already shining in the annals of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

hrhr@korea.kr