Randi Heesoo Griffin, a naturalized half-Korean forward for the joint Korean women's hockey team, said Wednesday training with North Koreans for the PyeongChang Olympics has gone well.
Griffin, a former Harvard forward who has been with the national team since 2015, said there has been no disputes with North Koreans inside the team. The International Olympic Committee has allowed the Koreas to put 35 players on their joint entry -- 23 South Koreans and 12 North Koreans -- though the game roster of 22 remains unchanged. And of those 22, at least three must be North Korean players.
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This photo provided by the Korea Ice Hockey Association shows Randi Heesoo Griffin. (Yonhap) |
"It's all been good," Griffin said of training with North Koreans after the welcome ceremony for the South Korean Olympic delegation for the PyeongChang Olympics at Gangneung Village in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. "We have the North Korean players on our roster, and we have two practice groups going on right now, but our team atmosphere is great."
Griffin, born to a Korean mother and an American father, said everyone, including head coach Sarah Murray, is helping each other to make a good team.
"Everyone on the team has handled it in a really mature way," she said. "We all realize that (the North Koreans) didn't choose to be in this situation either, and they're here to do their best, so everyone's been really nice to each other."
Griffin is one of the naturalized athletes on the team, along with Danelle Im and Caroline Park, for the Feb. 9-25 Olympics. For her Olympics debut, the 29-year-old said she is ready to go. At the Olympics, South Korea is in Group B against Sweden, Switzerland and Japan.
"My goal is definitely to win games," she said. "Especially, the Japan game is really important to us, and I think we can really win that one." (Yonhap)
