Following the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Friday, more events and games are finally ready to begin on Saturday (Day 2). Five gold medal finals are scheduled for short-track speedskating, ski, biathlon and ski jumping normal hill on Saturday.
South Korean athletes will begin a hunt for medals, eyeing to add gold. Hwang Dae-heon (19), Lim Hyo-jun (22) and Seo Yi-ra (26) will compete in the men’s 1,500 meters final race at the short-track speedskating. South Korea had grown as a short-track power at the Winter Olympics but failed to win any gold from men’s games at the Sochi Winter Olympics four years ago. The men’s team is determined to regain its reputation at home.
In addition, medals in short-track speedskating will set a path for how many medals South Korea can rack up this year, while the nation aims to win the record-breaking eight gold medals. The qualifying heat is scheduled at 7 p.m. and the final is scheduled at 9:28 p.m.
The women’s short-track team will start the engine to claim a huge medal haul. South Korea’s Kim A-lang will compete against China’s Fan Kexin in the same group in the 500 meters qualifying heat race. South Korea’s Shim Suk-hee has been assigned to the same group with Elise Christie from Britain. Fan Kexin has been known for her tough race and rampant cheating at major international games to South Korea.
Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com