At 9 a.m. on the 8th, the starting point of the sliding center in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, was crowded with athletes and staff preparing for training even though it was early in the morning. Perhaps due to the severe cold as the temperature fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius, the faces of five Daegwallyeong sledding siblings Jae-hwan, Choi Si-yeon (hereinafter referred to as bobsleigh), Shin Yeon-soo, Kim Ye-rim and Jung Ye-eun (hereinafter referred to as skeleton) showed signs of fatigue.
However, for a moment, their eyes changed as they climbed onto the track. Looking at the track ahead of departure, they displayed intense energy and fierce charisma as if they were an adult athlete when they were racing with their mouths, eyes, and body. The duration of the race takes about 1 minute and 30 seconds at the most. The five sledding siblings, who had been working hard for months to perfect this short moment ahead of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon Province, which opens on July 19, said, “Now, I have all my preparations,” and vowed to “run without regret.”
Jae-hwan, who is highly likely to win a gold medal in bobsleigh monobobs, paid extra attention to his driving while preparing for the upcoming Olympics. “Starting is important, but running is also important for medals,” Jae-hwan said. “I put a lot of attention into details to ride differently because if I ride the same track as other athletes, my record will be similar.” To that end, I have ridden the track at least 300 times since late last year.
In the Winter Youth Olympics, bobsledders ride sledding provided by the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Skeleton (IBSF) at random, which is why how many times they run the track is more important than the performance of sledding. In this regard, the speed of running on the track is certain to be the best option for Korean athletes. Other athletes also ran the track at least 200 times. They have the track tattooed on their body. “Another advantage of the Olympics in Korea is that there is no need to adjust to jet lag or that there is nothing to hide food,” said Jae-hwan. “The facilities are better in Korea than in other countries.”
The most difficult thing in sledding training is to increase the weight. “The weight of the athlete needs to be over a certain level to accelerate when driving, but I was worried that I would not gain weight even if I ate four to five meals a day including snacks,” Choi said. Yoon Seong-bin, the gold medalist in skeleton at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, also increased his weight by eating up to eight meals ahead of the competition, but he does not do so because his five siblings are still minors and do not fit in sports ethics. Instead, lead is attached to the sled in units of 5kg to fill the weight that is lacking.
Physical training was never easy, either. “I focused on physical training during the off-season last summer, and it was so hard that I wanted to give up halfway,” Shin said. “As much as I have endured such a difficult time, I want to play a game without regrets.” “When I first said I would ride a skeleton, my parents objected, saying that it looked too dangerous, but now I am rooting for them more than anyone else,” Shin said. “I want to live up to my parents’ expectations.”
“It helps me a lot in track and field, paddleboarding, and other sports”
The peculiarity of the five sled siblings is that the four of them, except for Jeong Ye-eun, were former track and field athletes. “As it is important to start sledding at a fast start, many were former track and field athletes,” said Kim Ye-rim, who started skating from 2022 after serving as an athlete until the age of 16. “Because what I did in track and field actually helps a lot, I continue to train in track and field even after switching to another sport.” They do both track and weight training during the off-season, and choose either weight training or track and field training during the season. 마카오토토도메인
The only paddleboarder among the five members has also been helped a lot by the previous event. “When you ride a sled at a skeleton, you have to pour your heart out, and it’s the same for paddleboarding,” Ye said. “It helped me a lot to keep my pose.”
When winning a medal at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon Province, ‘Korea’s first sled medal’
The sledding event started to draw attention when Yoon Seong-bin won the first Asian gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The five siblings are the next generation of runners who will continue the glorious achievement. The only sledding students from the same grade and class in Sangji Daegwallyeong High School, which boasts Korea’s only sledding department, will challenge for Korea’s first sledding medal at the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympics.
Earlier, Jung Seung-ki participated in the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, the Netherlands, raising expectations for a medal, but unfortunately, he only finished eighth and missed the medal. This time, it is worth looking forward to the “first medal,” as Jae-hwan Jae, who has already stood out by winning several international competitions, is predicting a gold run. The bobsleigh and skeleton events will be held on the 22nd and 23rd.
