Cross country skier Lee Chae-won completes sixth Olympics

Olympic Sports

Published: 10 Feb. 2022, 21:44

Cross country skier Lee Chae-won completes sixth Olympics

An athlete trains during cross-country skiing session at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday in Zhangjiakou, China. [AP/YONHAP]

Lee Chae-won [KSOC/JOONGANG ILBO]

Cross country skiers Lee Eui-jin and Lee Chae-won completed their 10-kilometer cross country classic race on Thursday.

Team Korea’s oldest athlete and six-time Olympian Lee Chae-won finished her last run on the big stage in 75th place with a time of 34:07.9, while 20-year-old Lee Eui-jin finished her run 70th with a time of 34:45.5.

In a cross country classic race, each skier begins their race at intervals of 30 seconds and uses the classical method where the athletes’ skies move back and forth in a parallel motion inside parallel grooves of snow. Lee Chae-won started the race 66th out of 98 competitors and crossed the finish line in 75th position and Lee Eui-jin started the race 70th and crossed the finish line in 72nd position.

Lee Cha-won in action during the women's 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday at Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Hebei Province, China. [YONHAP]

With Thursday’s final run, Lee Chae-won completes her sixth Olympics, having already competed in every Games since the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

At the 2018 PyeongChang Games, she finished 57th out of 62 competitors in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon and 51st out of 90 in the 10-kilometer freestyle race. She was 36 years old at the time and the oldest athlete on the Korean national team.

Lee once again entered the Beijing Games as the oldest member of Team Korea. Lee initially expressed her intention to retire from the national team after the 2018 PyeongChang Games, but changed her mind and earned another Olympic berth.

On Saturday, Lee competed in her first Beijing Olympics event, the women's 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon, and finished 61st. On Tuesday, Lee was scheduled to join countrywomen Han Da-som and Lee Eui-jin in the free sprint, but had to withdraw from the race due to cold symptoms. That she was able to cross the 10-kilometer finish line on Thursday at 40 years old despite feeling under the weather is itself an achievement.

Cross country events continue on Friday with Jeong Jong-won and Kim Min-woo set to compete in the men’s 15-kilometer classic race.

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