The Asian Winter Games, under the slogan, “Beyond Your Ambitions,” have athletes vying for medals in 64 events, up for grabs until Feb. 26. Also, this is the first time the games welcome teams from Indonesia, East Timor, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
The national Korean squad of 142 athletes has set the goal of winning a total of 15 gold medals, which would put it in second place on the medal standings. If Korea comes in second place in the final standings, it will be the first time in 14 years for it to do so, since the 2003 games in Aomori, Japan.
Snowboarder Lee Sang-ho slides down the slopes in the men’s giant slalom race at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games, at the Sapporo Teine resort on Feb. 19. Lee claimed the gold medal in the race and then won another in the men’s slalom the next day, Feb. 20.
As of Feb. 21, Korea leads the medal standings, with six gold medals.
The first gold medalist emerged in the snowboarding competition. On Feb. 19, Lee Sang-ho grabbed the first gold in the men’s giant slalom race at the Sapporo Teine resort. He didn’t stop there and continued to win the next gold in the next day’s men’s slalom race.
On Feb. 20, cross-country skier Kim Magnus won the men’s 1.4-kilometer sprint classic, clocking in at 3:11.40 and defeating Sun Qinghai of China by merely one-hundredth of a second.
Choi Min-jeong (left) speeds ahead in the ladies’ 1,500-meter short track speed skating race at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games at the Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink in Sapporo, Japan, on Feb. 20. The skater crossed the finish line in first place.
Lee Seung-hoon competes in the men’s 5,000-meter speed skating competition at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games at the Obihiro Forest Speed Skating Oval in Obihiro, Japan, on Feb. 20. The skater set a new Asian record with a time of 6:24.32, winning the gold medal.
More gold medals continued to go to Korean athletes in the ice sports, too. Lee Seung-hoon triumphed in the men’s 5,000-meter speed skating race at the Obihiro Forest Speed Skating Oval in Obihiro, Japan. To many’s surprise, the skater set a new Asian record of 6:24.32.
In the ladies’ 1,500-meter short track speed skating event at the Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink in Sapporo, Japan, on Feb. 20, Choi Min-jeong turned the tide in the last minute, winning with a time of 2:29.416.
Park Se-yeong, meanwhile, won the men’s 1,500-meter short track speed skating event with a time of 2:34.056, after a razor-thin finish with Wu Dajing (武大靖) of China.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Yonhap News
jae5853@korea.kr
Park Se-yeong rejoices after winning the men’s 1,500-meter short track speed skating race at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games at the Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink in Sapporo, Japan, on Feb. 20.