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S. Koreans fail to reach 2nd round in cross-country sprint classics

South Korean cross-country skiers on Tuesday failed to make it beyond the qualification round in the men and women's sprint classic competitions.

Kim Magnus (Yonhap)
Kim Magnus (Yonhap)

Kim Magnus finished 49th, clocking a time of 3 minutes, 22.36 seconds in the men's sprint classic qualification competition at Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, some 182 kilometers east of Seoul.

Born to a Norwegian father and a Korean mother, Kim, 19, is one of South Korea's top cross-country skiing prospects. He won two gold medals at the 2016 Youth Winter Games, and earned a gold at the 2017 Asian Winter Games.

While he won't contend for a medal this time around, Kim wil try to use PyeongChang, his first Olympics, as a stepping stone for his promising future.

"I didn't necessarily perform bad, but in order to advance to the next stage, I had to do my best. I don't think I met that standard," Kim said in a mixed zone interview after the race.

He said the qualification race, his first-ever Olympics competition, was a "very good experience" in his athletic career.

"The atmosphere is great and I'm so grateful for the spectators cheering passionately for me," he said.

Ju Hye-ri came in second-to-last, 67th, in the women's sprint classic qualification, clocking in a time of 4 minutes and 11.92 seconds. The South Korean skier lost her balance and fell during the final stretch of the competition. (Yonhap)

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