By Kang Gahui and Hahm Hee-eun
Photos = International Paralympic Committee

Sin Eui Hyun, who became Korea’s lone gold medalist at the recent Games, has been selected as one of the Top 5 Medal Winners at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The IPC announced its Top 5 Medal Winners on March 19, commending athletes or teams that stood out among the 241 medalists, of which 80 were gold medalists.

The IPC praised Sin Eui Hyun, who won the gold medal in the men’s 7.5 km cross-country skiing sitting event, as the "host nation hero" and "the only gold medalist and the most successful athlete in Korea."

Ever since the Albertville 1992 Paralympic Winter Games, Korea has participated in the Paralympics. This means that it took 26 years for Korea to win its first gold medal in the Paralympics.

The Top 5 Medal Winners and team also include Team USA, which topped the table with 13 gold medals, Henrieta Farkasova and her guide, Natalia Subrtova, of Slovakia, who won four gold medals and one silver medal in the women's alpine skiing visually-impaired event, the Chinese wheelchair curling athletes for winning China’s first medal at the Paralympic Winter Games, and Brian McKeever of Canada who has now achieved five consecutive victories in the men’s cross-country skiing visually-impaired event.

Moreover, the Korean para ice hockey team’s claim for its first bronze medal in a dramatic match against Italy was also selected by the IPC as one of the Top 5 Moments of the Games.



kgh89@korea.kr