Uniforms for the national bobsleigh and skeleton teams that will compete in next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are unveiled at the Alpensia Convention Center in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Oct. 18. From left are skeleton racers Lee Han-sin, Yun Sung-bin and Shin Miran.
By Sohn JiAe
Photos = Yonhap News
The new uniforms for the Korean Olympic bobsleigh and skeleton teams have been unveiled to the public.
The Korea Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation made public the red-colored uniforms that will be worn during next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in an unveiling ceremony at the Alpensia Convention Center in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Oct. 18.
The uniforms are characteristic of a calligraphy painting of the four sets of corner bars on the Taegeukgi national flag: the geon, gon, gam and ri (건곤감리, 乾坤坎離). They represent the sky, the earth, water and fire.
The fabric used in the bobsleigh uniform has a four-way stretch that allows racers to speed up, coupled with an interior function that helps them to tighten their muscle movements.
The skeleton uniform, meanwhile, is armed with functions to help protect athletes from any cuts to their skin and, also, features that tighten any shaking muscles on the move.
“We’ve made these fabric features under the concept of ‘Light a fire under the Republic of Korea, a barren country in terms of sledding,'" said an official from the federation. “As the national flag represents the sky, the earth, water and fire, alongside the balance of the yin and the yang, our uniform will hopefully bring the energy from all these aspects of the universe, and bring peace -- one of the Olympic spirits -- to Pyeongchang.”
Bobsleigh racers Won Yun-jong and Seo Young-woo launch their sled during a training session at the Alpensia Sliding Center in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Oct. 18.
“I’ve tried on many different uniforms over my career. With this new PyeongChang uniform, I have a great feeling about this,” said skeleton racer Yun Sung-bin. “Seeing the geon, gon, gam and ri marks on the uniform, I feel more determined about the upcoming Olympic Winter Games.”
The PyeongChang skeleton helmets were disclosed, too.
When asked about the individually tailored helmets made by HJC, a Korean helmet maker that has more than a 70 percent market share of the global helmet market, and which has been manufacturing skeleton helmets for about a year, Yun said, “It’s much better than the helmets I've worn before.”
jiae5853@korea.kr
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