Ekaterina Avvakumova (center), a naturalized athlete from Russia, on Feb. 11 poses with her gold medal in the women’s 7.5-km biathlon sprint at Yabuli Ski Resort in Shangzi, located 110 km southeast of Harbin, China, with a record time of 22 minutes, 45.4 seconds at the Asian Winter Games.

By Xu Aiying

Photos = Yonhap News

Ekaterina Avvakumova, a naturalized athlete from Russia, is the country’s first gold medalist in the biathlon of the Winter Asian Games.

 
At Yabuli Ski Resort, located 110 km southeast of Harbin, China, Avvakumova on Feb. 11 won the 7.5 km sprint of the women's biathlon with a record time of 22 minutes, 45.4 seconds.

This was Korea's first biathlon title in the Winter Asiad. The nation's previous best was the silver in the men's biathlon relay in the 2003 edition in Aomori, Japan.

After being naturalized as a Korean in 2016, Avvakumova finished 16th in the 15-km individual of the women's biathlon at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, then Korea's best showing in the event. Seven years later, she made history in the sport for her adopted country.

The speedskating trio of Chung Jae Won, Park Sangeon and Lee Seung Hoon on Feb. 11 competes in the men's team sprint at the Speed Skating Oval of Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin, China.

In speedskating the same day, the trio of Chung Jae Won, Park Sangeon and Lee Seung Hoon, Korea's "speedskating living legend," won the silver in the men's team sprint with a time of 3 minutes, 47.99 seconds at the Speed Skating Oval of Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin. China won the gold with 3 minutes, 45.94 seconds.

In the women's speedskating team sprint, Park Jiwo, Kim Yoonji and Jeong Yuna won the bronze with a time of 3 minutes, 10.47 seconds.

In the men's 1,000 m, Cha Minkyu won the silver with a time of 1 minute, 9.63 seconds and Lee Nahyun took the bronze in the women's 1,000 m.

xuaiy@korea.kr