Pyeongchang to host 2013 Special Olympics
 (Photo: Yonhap news) |
The city of Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province was officially chosen to hold the 2013 Special Olympics Winter Games on Wednesday, September 15 (Korean time).
Well-known public figures from around the globe gathered for the press conference, including California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and actresses Kim Yun-jin of Korea and Zhang Ziyi of China, who will serve as honorary ambassadors for the Special Olympics.
The Special Olympics World Winter Games are held every four years for people who have intellectual disabilities.
Some 2,500 athletes from 105 countries will participate in the 13-day competition in 2013.
By Cindy Ji-Eon Kim
Korea.net Staff Writer
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By Yi Whan-woo
Renowned Korean short track speed skaters Ahn Hyun-soo and Jin Sun-yu will compete for the national team again in team trials from Saturday.
Ahn and Jin, the triple Olympic gold medalists in 2006 who missed the Winter Games this February because of injury, were also five and three time world champions, in each the men’s and women’s competitions, respectively.
They will race in the two-day tryouts for each of the four-skater rosters against a total of 72 male and 43 women, in the hope of reclaiming their standing on the world stage.
Ahn was acclaimed for sweeping the World Championships for five consecutive years from 2003, but never had the chance to skate for his country after he damaged his left knee in January, 2008.
Jin also went through a similar experience. The three-time world champion, for three straight years from 2005, injured her right ankle ligament during the World Cup in 2008, and ended up in 13th place in the tryouts the following year.
Ahn hinted at a revival by finishing on the podium three times this year in national competition. The race this weekend is especially meaningful for the 25-year-old as he finally has a chance after overcoming factionalism in the local sports body that had been rumored to deliberately exclude some athletes, including Ahn, from the national squad.
The trials this month were originally scheduled in April, and the delay raised doubts whether some in the Korean Skating Union (KSU) tried to prevent Ahn from being on the team. The former world champion said in April that the delay is frustrating for him as he had trained according to the initial schedule.
A KSU official also agreed with Ahn as the skater had to do national service that limited his preparation time. Ahn completed a four-week military exercise this June.
The tryout is to feature a new format in deciding the national team. Rather than giving chances for the top-finishers in a race as in previous meets, each individual time will be reflected in selection. The former method caused controversy for race fixing by factions in the KSU.
yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
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By Yoon Chul The Hansol Korea Open — the only World Tennis Association (WTA) tour event held in Korea — will be held for the seventh time from Saturday for a nine-day run. With the goal of attracting more attention, the Korea Tennis Association (KTA) invited many world stars who will compete for the $220,000 prize money. Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic (now ranked 37th), who captured the Roland Garros title — one of the four grand slams — in 2008 and Dinara Safina (59th) will compete at the Olympic Park in Seoul. Russia’s Maria Kirilenko, who competed in the Hansol Korea Open for last four years, will also appear. The 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, who beat then reigning champion Kirilenko in last year’s semifinal, will try to defend the title. But the No. 1 and No. 2 seed are given to high rankers, Nadia Petrova (19th) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (25th). In addition, the 19-year-old rising star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will join the competition. Among those participating, Ivanovic is the strongest candidate for the title. The 23-year-old Russian advanced to the round of 16 in the U.S Open, but lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium. Korean players Lee Jin-a and Kim So-jung are poised to challenge to be the first Koreans to win the tournament. “With many world-class players at the tournament, Korean tennis fans will be able to see high-level tennis played on their soil,” Lee Jin-soo, a director of Hansol Korea Open, said. Tennis stars like Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, and Nicole Vaidisove have claimed the trophy one time but no one has taken the title twice. The tournament will also include women’s double matches. Women’s U.S. Open doubles champions Vania King of the United States and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan will likely compete in the tournament as a pair. Petrova, who was a runner-up in the U.S. Open in the doubles and Martinez Sanchez, who is ranked 11th in doubles standings, will also play. In Korea, about 700,000 people play tennis, with many doubles competitions for amateurs due mainly to a lack of space. “The seventh Hansol Korea Open is expected to provide people with the chance to enjoy seeing world stars,” Lee said. | |
| yc@koreatimes.co.kr | |
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