Korean skiers struggle in cross country sprint races

Kim Min-woo in action during the men's free sprint cross-country skiing qualification at National Cross-Country Centre, Zhangjiakou on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Han Da-som finished 75th and Lee Eui-jin finished 77th in the women’s cross country free sprint qualification round on Tuesday at Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Hebei Province, while Jeong Jong-won finished 81st and Kim Min-woo finished 82nd in the men’s sprint.

With only the top 30 athletes qualifying for the quarterfinals, all four cross country skiers are now eliminated from the individual free sprint events.

For the preliminary round, each skier begins their race at intervals of 30 seconds. Han started the race 76th out of 90 competitors and crossed the finish line in 75th position with a time of 3:51.34. Lee Eui-jin started the race 79th and crossed the finish line in 77th position with a time of 3:52.05.

Six-time Olympian Lee Chae-won was scheduled to join Han and Lee Eui-jin in the free sprint, but withdrew from the race due to cold symptoms.

In the men’s event, Jeong started out the race 82nd and crossed the finish line with a time of 3:16.15, taking the 81st spot, while Kim started the race 84th and crossed the finish line right after Jeong with a time of 3:19.76.

Cross country events continue on Thursday, with the women’s 10-kilometer classic, where Lee Chae-won is looking to compete.

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