Han, Hwang finish seventh in men's super combined events

Olympic Sports

Published: 07 Mar. 2022, 17:52 Updated: 08 Mar. 2022, 16:56

Han, Hwang finish seventh in men's super combined events

Hwang Min-gyu competes in the slalom race during the men's super combined visually impaired event at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Yanqing, Beijing on Monday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korean alpine skiers Han Sang-min and Hwang Min-gyu finished their respective men's super combined events in seventh place on Monday, with Han competing in the sitting competition and Hwang in the visually impaired event.

Han finished the combined event, which includes both a Super-G and slalom run, with a total time of 2 minutes and 7.08 seconds at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre in Beijing on Monday, 16.85 seconds behind Jesper Pedersen of Norway in first place.

Han Sang-min competes in the Super-G race during the men's super combined sitting event at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Yanqing, Beijing on Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

Han finished the Super-G in 16th place in the morning with a time of 1 minute and 19.11 seconds, but then hugely improved in the slalom, finishing seventh with a time of 47.97 seconds to give him seventh place overall.

Hwang finished with a total time of 2 minutes and 11.42 seconds, 21.62 seconds behind Giacomo Bertagnolli of Italy in first place. Hwang finished the Super-G in ninth-place with a time of 1 minute and 21.97 seconds and the slalom in seventh with a time of 49.45 seconds.

There are three different medal contests in each skiing event: Visually impaired, standing and sitting. Within each event, athletes are classified based on their impairment, and the score takes these classifications into account.

In standing events, there are nine classifications, LW1 to LW9, while in sitting there are three, LW10 to LW12, and in visually impaired events there are three, B1 to B3. The numbers, or classification factors, indicate how much an athlete’s impairment is expected to affect their ability to compete in the sport.

Han competes in the LW-12 sport class for sit-skiers with normal or only slightly decreased trunk function and leg impairments.

Hwang competes in the B3 class, the least severe vision impairment eligible for para alpine skiing. Eligible athletes either have a restricted visual field of less than 40 degrees or a low visual acuity. Visually impaired skiers compete with a guide.

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