Jung Dong-hyun finishes Olympics with 21st place in slalom

Jung Dong-hyun passes a gate during the second run of the men's slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea's Jung Dong-hyun finished 21st out of 88 competitors in the men's ski slalom on Wednesday with a time of 1 minute and 47.69 seconds, 3.60 seconds behind first place.

Jung finished his first run on Wednesday morning in 56.85 seconds to take 29th place, with a slow start holding him back.

In the second run, Jung was in significantly better form, shaving a full six seconds off his time at 50.84 seconds, good enough for 16th place on the heat and 21st overall.

Only 45 of the 88 competitors in the men's slalom actually finished the two heats, putting Jung in the top 25 percent overall and the top 50 percent of finishers.

Wednesday's result was a significant improvement on Sunday's giant slalom, when Jung was unable to finish the race as he was unable to battle against the heavy snow in his second run.

Wednesday's race was Korea's last alpine skiing event of the Beijing Games, with Jung's 21st place also Korea's best result of the Games.

Alongside Jung, Kang Young-seo and Gim So-hui competed in the women's slalom events, with Kang failing to finish both races and Gim finishing 33rd in the giant slalom and 39th in the slalom.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]