Sin Eui Hyun races to the finish line with his remaining strength , as he comes in third place in the cross-country skiing men’s 15 km sitting event, at the Alpensia Biathlon Center in Pyeongchang on March 11.
By Sohn JiAe
Photos = Yonhap News
Para cross-country skier Sin Eui Hyun has clinched the first medal in the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games for Team Korea, the first time ever in Korea’s history of Para Nordic skiing.
The Korean skier finished in third place among the 29 competitors with a time of 42:28.9 in the cross-country skiing men’s 15 km sitting event, at the Alpensia Biathlon Center in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do Province, on March 11.
Only in fifth place after 3.8 km, the skier overtook one competitor to be in fourth place by the 5.92-km mark. At the 12.99-km mark, Sin was a head of Zheng Peng of China and crossed the finish line to win a bronze medal.
The hard-earned bronze for the athlete, with both legs amputated due to a car accident, is the third medal in Korean Paralympic history. With this new bronze, Team Korea has so far earned three medals in the Paralympic Games, first in alpine skiing in 2002 and the second in wheelchair curling in 2010.
The PyeongChang bronze medalist said after the competition that, “It’s such an honor to write new history with this medal today. It would’ve been much better with a gold medal, but I think it’s just the beginning and I’ll continue to focus on the following events for more medals.”
He is scheduled to compete in the biathlon 12.5 km sitting event on March 13, in the cross-county skiing 1.1 km sprint sitting event on March 14, in the biathlon 15 km sitting event on March 16, and, lastly, in the cross-country skiing 7.5 km sitting event on March 17. North Korea, meanwhile, made its first Paralympic debut in the cross-country skiing 15 km sitting event. Ma Yu Chol and Kim Jong Hyon took part in the event and finished near bottom in 26th and 27th place, respectively.
Bronze medalist in the PyeongChang Paralympic cross-country skiing men’s 15 km sitting event, Sin Eui Hyun (right), rejoices with Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi (center) in first place and the U.S.’ Daniel Cnossen in second place, on March 11.
jiae5853@korea.kr
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