Sports Briefs

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Kim Magnus gives up on Korea, chooses Norway

Kim Magnus, who won Korea’s first gold medal in skiing at the Youth Winter Olympics, will represent Norway, his father’s country, in future international competitions, the cross-country skier’s agency said Tuesday.

Brion Company said Kim, born to a Korean mother and Norwegian father, decided to register as an athlete under Norway’s ski federation starting from the 2018-19 season.

Kim, who holds dual citizenship, has been competing for his mother’s country since May 2015. He became the first skier with the Korean flag to win a gold medal at the 2016 Youth Winter Olympics, and captured three medals at the Sapporo Asian Winter Games last year.

The 19-year-old also represented Korea at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February, but failed to post impressive results. He finished 45th in the 15-kilometer free event, 47th in the 50-kilometer mass start and 49th in the 1.4-kilometer sprint.

Local pundits speculate that Kim decided to switch his national team due to his poor PyeongChang Olympics performance and felt the need to improve his competitiveness under Norway’s advanced training system.

BASEBALL

KBO to give players a longer All-Star break next year

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Wednesday that it will extend the annual All-Star break from four days to seven days starting in 2019.

The All-Star break is currently four days long and runs from a Friday to a Monday. For this year, there will be some festivities, such as the home run derby and skills competition, on July 13, followed by the game on the following day. Teams will get the next two days off before returning to action on July 17.

The KBO said teams wanted extra rest during that period so that their players can come back fresher for a second-half run. The All-Star week in 2019 will run from July 19 to 25.

The KBO also announced that the 2019 regular season will begin on March 29, which is a Friday.

Yonhap