S. Korea sends 144 athletes to PyeongChang Olympics

The scope of the South Korean team that will participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics is confirmed to be 219 people in a total of 15 events in seven sports. The Korean team for the PyeongChang Olympics will be comprised of 144 athletes, 40 athlete officials and 35 headquarter officials, the Korean Olympic Committee said on Tuesday. Based on the sport, ice hockey had the most players with 48 (25 men and 23 women players), followed by 37 for snow event, 33 for ice event, 14 for sleigh event and 12 players for curling event.

The oldest player is cross-country player Lee Chae-won (age 37), who will be playing the Olympics for the fifth time. She is 21 years older than the youngest player, Kim Ha-neul (age 16), a female single figure skater. Kim Ha-neul, a senior at Pyeongchon Middle School, is the only middle school student. The eldest male player is Choi Seo-u (age 36), a ski jumper, and he will be attending his 6th Olympic games with Kim Hyun-ki. The average age of Korean athletes is approximately 25.

The South Korean team will be welcomed into the Gangneung Olympic Village in Gangwon Province at 11:00 a.m. on Feb. 7.


Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com