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[스포츠뉴스]Team Korea turns Paralympic woes around with successful run at Milan-Cortina Games

온카뱅크관리자

2026-03-15 16:51:00

<div class="ab_photo photo_center ab_zoom"> <div class="image"> <img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/03/15/0000085681_001_20260315165413293.jpg" alt="" />Kim Yun-ji celebrates winning a gold medal at the women's cross-country skiing event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics in Italy on March 8. [YONHAP] </div> </div> Team Korea showcased their improvement at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics, grabbing four medals and delivering one of their strongest results as of press time Sunday after years of struggle and a medal-less finish at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. The performance marked a clear turnaround for Korea at the Paralympics. At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, Korea won three medals &#8212; one gold and two bronze. Sin Eui-hyun, 45, won Korea’s first Winter Paralympic gold medal in Nordic skiing and added a bronze in the event in 2018. The Korean ice hockey team also secured a bronze medal that year. But the momentum did not carry over to the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, where Korea failed to win a single medal. “Gold medals do not come in just one day,” Jung Jin-owan, president of the Korea Paralympic Committee, said at the time. “We are discovering new athletes and changing the national team system. The results will look different in four years.” Four years later, the changes became visible. Korea has collected six medals &#8212; one gold, four silver and one bronze &#8212; at the 2026 Paralympics, surpassing the country’s previous best result at the PyeongChang Paralympics. Kim Yun-ji shone for Korea in her first Paralympics, becoming the first Korean woman to win a Winter Paralympic gold medal in para biathlon. Snowboarder Lee Je-hyuk also made history by finishing third in snowboard cross, earning Korea’s first Paralympic medal in the sport. Over in wheelchair curling mixed doubles, the team of Baek Hye-jin and Lee Yong-suk won a silver medal. <div class="ab_photo photo_center ab_zoom"> <div class="image"> <img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/03/15/0000085681_002_20260315165413479.jpg" alt="" />Baek Hye-jin, right, and Lee Yong-suk pose after winning a silver medal in the mixed doubles curling event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics in Italy on March 11. [NEWS1] </div> </div> Long-term development programs also played a role in this year's improved results. The Korea Paralympic Committee has run sports camps for both winter and summer events since 2016 to discover and train new athletes. Kim also came through that program. She was born with spina bifida, a condition that affects the spine, and started swimming at the age of 3 for rehabilitation. She later joined a winter sports camp, where she tried winter sports for the first time and chose Nordic skiing. Six years after she began the sport, she became a Paralympic medalist. Park Gil-woo, the coach who guided Baek and Lee to their silver medal, also has his own Paralympic experience. He won a silver medal in the four-person wheelchair curling event at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics. Training conditions for wheelchair curling athletes have also improved over time. In earlier years, the national team sometimes froze the swimming pool at the training center in Icheon, Gyeonggi, to create a temporary rink because proper curling facilities did not exist. Until the Sochi Paralympics, wheelchair curling athletes trained at facilities designed for nondisabled athletes. Some venues lacked accessible pathways, forcing athletes to endure difficult conditions even during basic activities. Officials built a dedicated curling rink at the Icheon training center in 2017 ahead of the PyeongChang Paralympics. The facility later gained a reputation strong enough that nondisabled teams sometimes rented it for training. The Korea Wheelchair Curling League also launched after the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. “We created the league because athletes told us they did not have enough competitions,” Yoon Kyung-sun, president of the Korea Para Curling Association, said. The number of athletes has since grown as well. Nearly every regional delegation now participates in the National Para Games. Greater domestic competition has helped athletes gain experience and improve performance. In 2024, the mixed doubles curling team of Jung Tae-young and Cho Min-kyong won the world championship. Baek and Lee Yong-suk later followed with a Paralympic medal. The 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics also inspired new athletes. Lee Je-hyuk once competed as a nondisabled snowboarder before sustaining an injury. After watching the PyeongChang Paralympics, he returned to the sport six years later and eventually reached the Paralympic podium this year. <div class="ab_photo photo_center ab_zoom"> <div class="image"> <img src="https://imgnews.pstatic.net/image/640/2026/03/15/0000085681_003_20260315165413709.jpg" alt="" />Lee Je-hyuk celebrates after winning a bronze medal in the men's snowboard event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics in Italy on March 8. [NEWS1] </div> </div> Winter sports often require expensive equipment and remain difficult for many people to access. Conditions improved after the PyeongChang Games as Bandabi Sports Center &#8212; athletic facilities designed for people with disabilities &#8212; opened across the country. Systems that encourage companies and public institutions to hire athletes with disabilities have also allowed national team athletes to focus more on training. Success in elite disability sports also encourages broader participation in physical activity among people with disabilities and produces wider social and economic benefits. The Korea Paralympic Committee and Sungkyunkwan University conducted a study in 2021 on the medical cost reductions and socioeconomic effects of sports participation among people with disabilities. The study found that sports participation reduces medical expenses by about 215,300 won ($140) for each person with disabilities. It also calculated the broader socioeconomic impact &#8212; including productivity gains, employment effects and job creation &#8212; at about 1.4 trillion won. The final events for the 2026 Paralympics were scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

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