South Korea at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

South Korea sent people to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. South Korea and North Korea will enter the Opening Ceremonies as one team, walking behind a unification flag. South Korea is competing in sledge hockey.

Competing together

 
Unification flag of Korea

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said North Korea was going to participate in the Winter Games for the first time. The North Koreans will competing under a Korean unification flag like their delegation for the 2018 Winter Olympics did.[1] This is the first time that North Korea went to the Winter Paralympics. The country had gone to the 2012 Summer Paralympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[2] On 1 January 2018, Kim Jong-un said he wanted to have North Koreans competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.[3] North Koreans had a meeting with the IPC in Lusanne, Switzerland on 20 January 2018. At the meeting, North Korea and South Korea asked the IPC if they could compete as one team.[4] On 27 February, the two countries met at a small village on the border with South Korea. They discussed how the two countries would compete together at the Winter Games.[5] The Government of South Korea thinks the North going to the Games is important. They think it can reduce the tensions between the two countries.[5]

Team

South Korea wanted to win at the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics because they did not want to be embarrassed as the Games were going to be South Korea. To do this, they looked around the world for coaches and people who could compete at the Games. They gave citizenship to 19 people for Team South Korea at the Olympics. They gave citizenship to one person for the Paralympics, but this person was not chosen to be part of the team that competed at the Paralympic Games.[6]

The country has the fourth largest team among all nations. It has 36 people.[7]

Goals

South Korea had a goal of winning four medals at the Games. They wanted to win one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.[7]

Russian doping scandal

15 National Paralympic Committees and the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation signed a letter expressing support for the National Paralympic Committee of Russia in August 2017. The countries included Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Montenegro, and South Korea. They asked the IPC Governing Board to consider letting Russia compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. The letter was signed weeks before the IPC Governing Board met in Abu Dhabi.[8] In September 2017, this decision was reviewed and upheld. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) still had concerns about doping in Russian sport. All the conditions the IPC required of the Russians were not met.[9]

History

South Korea could play at the 2018 Paralympics because the Games were in South Korea.[10][11] South Korea played in the 2017 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in December in Charlottetown, Canada.[10] South Korea played in a tournament in January in Japan. They beat Norway 0 - 5 to win gold.[12]

South Korea won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Paralympics. They went to the Games with people thinking they could win another medal in 2018.[10]

Para-Nordic skiing

Schedule

On 12 March, the 15 km race takes place, with standing and vision impaired women starting at 10:00 PM. Thee sprint classic qualification takes place on 14 March from 10:00 AM – 11:25 AM for both men and women in all classes. It is followed in the afternoon by the semifinals and finals.  The classic race takes place on 17 March. The standing and visually impaired women's race takes place from 10:00 AM - 12:30.[13]

Results

In cross country skiing's men's 15 km sitting race, Maksym Yarovyi of Ukraine won gold, Daniel Cnossen of the United States won silver, and Sin Eui Hyun won bronze.[14]

Sledge hockey

Roster

People think Jung Segun-Hwan is one of the best forwards in the world. He scored a goal in the bronze medal match at the 2017 Sledge Hockey World Championships. The goal helped his team win bronze.[15]

South Korean players
Name Position ref
Jung Segun-Hwan forward [15]

Schedule and results

The United States, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Japan were in Group B for the sledge hockey competition.[11] They play against Japan on 10 March.[16] They play against the Czech Republic on 11 March.[16]

Preliminary round
Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts
  Czech Republic
  Japan
  South Korea
  United States
March 10, 2018
15:30 KST
South Korea   15:30 KST   Japan Gangneung Hockey Centre
March 11, 2018
15:30 KST
South Korea   15:30 KST   Czech Republic Gangneung Hockey Centre
March 13, 2018
12:00 MSK
South Korea   12:00 MSK   United States Gangneung Hockey Centre

Related pages

References

  1. North Korea invited to participate in first-ever Winter Paralympic Games at Pyeongchang 2018. 29 January 2018. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1060932/north-korea-invited-to-participate-in-first-ever-winter-paralympic-games-at-pyeongchang-2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018. 
  2. (in en-GB) Winter Paralympics: IPC invites two North Korean skiers to take part. 2 February 2018. https://www.bbc.com/sport/disability-sport/42916088. Retrieved 13 February 2018. 
  3. (in es) Corea del Norte podría estrenarse en Paralímpicos de Invierno en PyeongChang. 4 January 2018. http://www.lavanguardia.com/deportes/20180104/434057781888/corea-del-norte-podria-estrenarse-en-paralimpicos-de-invierno-en-pyeongchang.html. Retrieved 17 February 2018. 
  4. "КНДР має намір взяти участь у зимових Паралімпійських іграх-2018". zik.ua (in українська). Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  5. 5.0 5.1 (in bg) Северна Корея ще изпрати спортисти и на Зимните параолимпийски игри - Mediapool.bg. 27 February 2018. http://www.mediapool.bg/severna-koreya-shte-izprati-sportisti-i-na-zimnite-paraolimpiyski-igri-news276063.html. Retrieved 28 February 2018. 
  6. Longman, Jeré; Lee, Chang W. (9 February 2018) (in en-US). South Korea Got the Winter Games. Then It Needed More Olympians.. ISSN 0362-4331 . https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/sports/olympics/south-korea-naturalized-citizens.html. Retrieved 2018-02-15. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 (in en) PyeongChang to host largest Winter Paralympics next month. 26 February 2018. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/02/26/0200000000AEN20180226010000315.html. Retrieved 28 February 2018. 
  8. "Paralympic committees boost Russia's bid to be reinstated in time for PyeongChang 2018". Play the Game. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. (in be) Зборную Расіі адхілілі ад удзелу ў Паралімпійскіх гульнях — 2018. https://nn.by/?c=ar&i=196995. Retrieved 18 February 2018. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 "PyeongChang 2018: 10 things to know". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. 11.0 11.1 "PyeongChang 2018: Para ice hockey seedings and groups revealed". International Paralympic Committee.
  12. "PyeongChang 2018 Sport Week: 5 Para ice hockey storylines". International Paralympic Committee. 2 February 2018.
  13. "Programm". Austrian Paralympic Committee (in Deutsch). 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  14. "Daily Medalists: 11 March". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "PyeongChang 2018: 6 must-see athletes". International Paralympic Committee.
  16. 16.0 16.1 (in sv) Så sänder SVT Paralympics 2018 - Sport | SVT.se. https://www.svt.se/sport/vintersport/sa-sander-svt-paralympics-2018/. Retrieved 2018-02-16.