The world’s top bobsledders and skeleton athletes will land in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do Province, to test their athletic prowess before the next Winter Olympics in February 2018.

With the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games just under one year away, bobsleigh and skeleton athletes will compete in the 2017 BMW International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup from March 17 to 19 at the Alpensia Sliding Center in the Olympic host city of Pyeongchang. The World Cup is serving as a test event for next year’s Olympic Games, and begins with men’s and women’s skeleton races on March 17.

The two-man and women’s bobsleigh races will be on March 18, followed by the four-man bobsleigh competition on March 19.

Participating athletes will push their sleds as hard as they can, as they head down the 1,376-meter half-pipe course at the Alpensia Sliding Center, comprised of a straight tack and a total of 16 curves.

In skeleton, athletes lie prone on a small sled and race down the frozen tracks. In bobsleigh, athletes ride in a car-like sled down the iced tracks. Corners No. 4, 9 and 14 are considered to be the most challenging parts of the course.

In the men’s skeleton, Martins Dukurs of Latvia is seen as the strongest contender for the gold. The Latvian has held a championship title for eight consecutive years. Even if it seems that there’s no match for him, he has yet to see one single dream come true: to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games. “I have a strong desire for an Olympic gold medal. Next year’s PyeongChang Olympics would be my last chance to achieve that goal,” he said.



Yun Sung-bin of Korea aims to take the top place from the seemingly formidable Latvian competitor in the upcoming test event. Yun is currently number two in the world. The Korean athlete will take full advantage of home ice not only in the test event, but in the PyeongChang Games next year, too, hoping to beat the Latvian defending champion and claim a gold medal.

“I’ve been testing my sleds to find the best one,” said Yun, who was practicing on the iced tracks at the Alpensia Sliding Center. “Racing on home ice lessens the pressure and burdens on me. My rival, Dukurs, has won other competitions, as he has been able to practice on the tracks more than I could. In Pyeongchang here at home, I think I will gain a competitive edge over him.”

In the two-man bobsleigh competition, Won Yun-jong, the pilot who steers the sled, and Seo Young-woo, the brakeman who provides most of the power in the running start and who pulls the sled’s brake lever to stop it, are hoping to slide their way to a medal. The duo is currently ranked fourth in the world. In the 2015-2016 season, the pair finished in first place on the world standings, giving a new breath of hope to Korea, which for many years has been a barren landscape for bobsleigh.

“Although the Pyeongchang tracks aren't that difficult in general, it’s really challenging to find a way to give the sled further momentum on certain tracks,” said Won. “We will, however, get home advantage, more than any other competitor, and we will try to put up a good fight in the final World Cup of this year’s season.” The Korean duo will keep in tune with Kim Jin-su and Oh Jea-han in the four-man competition, as well.



The Korean team’s arch-nemesis is, of course, Germany, a bobsleigh powerhouse that has clinched as many as 10 Olympic gold medals, the most-ever. The German duo of Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis will jostle for gold in the upcoming Pyeongchang test event. The team set a new record in the previous BMW IBSF World Cup in Austria on Feb. 4, brining another gold medal to their nation.

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Jeon Han Korea.net Photographer, Yonhap News
jiae5853@korea.kr