Lee Sang-ho wins bronze in FIS Snowboarding World Cup

South Korean snowboarder Lee Sang-ho, nicknamed “Cabbage Boy,” lessened the burden on his shoulders that was put by his failure in winning a medal in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Lee ranked 3rd leaving German competitor Stefan Baumeister behind by 0.02 second in the semi-final of the FIS Snowboarding World Cup’s men’s parallel slalom held on Saturday in Piancavallo, Italy.

Although Lee topped the preliminaries in the men’s parallel giant slalom, he had to end his race in 5th place in the quarterfinal against Vic Wild of the ROC with a gap of 0.01 second. But this time, Lee has proved his excellence by winning a medal in the first World Cup since the Beijing Olympics.

Grabbing one gold, two silvers and two bronzes in eight World Cup competitions this season, Lee tops the men’s rankings in parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom with 494 ranking points as of now.

Baumeister is in 2nd place following Lee with 456 points garnered. As Russian player Dmitry Loginov, in 3rd place with 326 points, is not likely to return this season as he is banned from playing following Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, Lee and Baumeister are expected to compete for leadership this season. Lee has aimed to win all-round championship for this season.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com