Bobsleigh pair get best finish of season as Beijing nears

Won Yun-jong and Kim Jin-su react after taking sixth place in the two-man bobsleigh at the BMW International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup in Sigulda, Latvia on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korea took sixth place in the two-man bobsleigh race at the BMW International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup, with Won Yun-jong and Kim Jin-su finishing the two runs with a time of 1:39.82, marking their best finish this season on Sunday.

Won started off the World Cup season finishing 17th in the first IBSF World Cup on Nov. 20 last year, alongside Seo Young-woo. But because Seo had to return to Korea after suffering a shoulder injury, Won partnered up with Kim Jin-su from the second World Cup event, where they finished 21st. In the third World Cup, they finished 17th and came in 21st in the fifth World Cup.

With the Beijing Olympics just a month away, the pair’s sixth-place finish might be a sign that they are all tuned up and ready for the big stage.

Won is a 2018 PyeongChang silver medalist in the four-man bobsleigh event alongside Seo, Jun Jung-lin and Kim Dong-hyun. He also has one gold medal at the 2015-16 IBSF World Cup and one bronze medal at the 2016-17 IBSF World Cup.

Alongside the Won-Kim pair, Jung Seung-gi finished third in the men’s skeleton on Friday with a time of 1:41.73, 0.37 seconds behind winner Tomass Durkurs of Latvia. Countryman Kim Ji-soo took 13th place with a time of 1:42.58 and Yun Sung-bin, who became the first Asian ever to win a medal in a sliding sport with a gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, took 17th place with a time of 1:42.94.

Kim Yoo-ran finished 10th in the women’s monobob with a time of 1:49.41, 1.29 seconds behind Christine De Bruin of Canada on Saturday. Kim Yoo-ran and Jeon Eun-ji finished 13th in the two-woman bobsleigh on Sunday.

The Korean national skeleton athletes are now headed to Altenberg, Germany for the Intercontinental Cup starting Thursday.

Korean is expected to send a total of nine athletes to compete in the bobsleigh events in Beijing, with two sleds competing in the two-man bobsleigh, two sleds in the four-man bobsleigh and one sled in the women's monobob. An additional three athletes, two men and one woman, are expected to race in the skeleton.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]