PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- As important as home track advantage is in Olympic bobsleigh competitions, the South Korean tandem of Won Yun-jong and Seo Young-woo said Thursday they'll try to win a medal next year on their own merit.
Won, the pilot, and Seo, his brakeman, represent a strong medal hope for host South Korea at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
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South Korean bobsleigh pilot Won Yun-jong (C) speaks at a press conference alongside his coach Lee Yong (L) and brakeman Seo Young-woo at Alpensia Convention Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on March 30, 2017. (Yonhap) |
The races will be held at Alpensia Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul.
Sliders from host nations have thrived at recent Winter Games because they get to train on the Olympic track more often than their rivals and learn every twist and turn of the course.
Won said he'll try to make the most of that edge, but he wants to prove to fans his team deserves to win an Olympic medal regardless of the venue.
"The ultimate goal for athletes is to win an Olympic gold medal," Won said at a press conference at Alpensia Sliding Centre after an open practice. "We want the people to think that we won the medal because we were good enough to do so, not just because we were racing at home."
Seo said he would have felt happy just to be at the Olympics in the past, but he has set a much higher goal for himself this time.
"Now, I am working toward a gold medal," he said. "I want to become an athlete who deserves to be a gold medalist."
Won and Seo won the overall title at the 2015-2016 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup season. They had an up-and-down 2016-2017 season, as they failed to record a victory and fell outside the top 10 at two World Cup stops.
Anything from their inability to adjust to a new sled to apparent discord within the coaching staff has been cited as reasons for the duo's inconsistent performance. But Won put the blame squarely on himself.
"First and foremost, I was the source of problems," he said. "I didn't get the full grasp of the tracks, and I became too passive after suffering injuries (to neck and lower back). And I could never turn things around."
From the fourth to the seventh World Cups, Won and Seo finished eighth, eighth, 16th and 11th. But they finished on a stronger note with a fifth place finish at the season finale at Alpensia Sliding Centre earlier this month.
"We got some of our confidence back at the World Cup in PyeongChang," Won said. "We'll continue to work hard during the offseason and try to bounce back in the Olympic season."
The national team sliders could get in more than 230 practice runs a month at Alpensia, and Won said he feels that should be enough to help his team become fully adjusted to their new sled. (Yonhap)
