Will failure to foster winter sports competitors doom Korea?

In the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games last year, Korea earned gold medals not only in short track skating, but also in figure and speed skating. Rising stars included figure skater Kim Yu-na and speed skaters Lee Sang-hwa, Lee Seung-hun and Mo Tae-bum.

Korea is now a powerhouse not only in its traditional stronghold of short track but also in other winter sports.

The prospects going forward are not bright, however, vis- à -vis the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Korea remains the dominant country in short track, but France, Canada, the U.S. and China are rapidly catching up by hiring Korean coaches and learning Korean training techniques.

In Vancouver, Korea won just two gold medals in short track while China claimed the world`s top spot based on a huge pool of players. Experts say Korea must steadily upgrade its short track technology and foster promising players.

As for speed skating, Korea won three gold medals in Vancouver but the conditions are no better. Though the three gold medalists remain undiminished, few players who can succeed them and the wide competency gap puts Korean speed skating in a vulnerable situation.

Korea has only one speed skating rink -- Taeneung International Skating Rink -- that meets international standard, casting a dark cloud over the future of the country’s winter sports. The temperature within the Taeneung rink is also very low, forcing players to train in poor conditions.

If Korea`s pool of players remains small, the country will fail to see good results in Pyeongchang in 2018. The number of registered speed skaters is less than half that of Japan, the U.S. and Canada.

The conditions for figure skating are only a little better perhaps because of Kim Yu-na. Many younger prospects such as Kim Hae-jin and Park So-hyun have the potential to make it big on the world stage.

Except for the women’s and men’s singles, Korea has no pair skating and ice dancing competitors. As the host nation of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Korea might be able to compete in just two of the four figure skating competitions.

Korean winter sports athletes struggled to join the world`s best despite adverse conditions. Poor conditions must be handled promptly while prospects should be aggressively fostered for Korea to shine seven years from now in Pyeongchang.

creating@donga.com