The 104th National Winter Sports Festival (hereinafter referred to as Winter Sports Festival), considered the largest winter sports festival in Korea, has come to an end. This year’s Winter Sports Festival opened on the 17th and was held until the 20th in Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Gyeongbuk, and Ulsan, including Seoul.
A total of 4,210 athletes from 17 cities and provinces participated in this event, including 2726 players and 1484 executives. It was hosted by the Korea Sports Association (hereinafter referred to as the Sports Association) and organized by 8 member organizations of the winter season.
The Sports Association said, “This Winter Sports Festival was held one year ahead of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, and it was reborn as an opportunity to check the performance of the athletes and promote interest in winter sports and expand the base.” In the overall standings by city and province, Gyeonggi-do won the overall championship with a total of 285 medals and a total of 1396 points. Seoul (929 points) and Gangwon (863 points) ranked second and third respectively.
The MVP of the tournament is Kim Min-sun (Uijeongbu City Hall), who won three gold medals at the 2023 Lake Placid Winter World University Games and won five gold medals at the 2022-23 Speed Skating World Cup hosted by the International Skating Union (ISU). named this Kim Min-seon was selected as the MVP of the tournament through a vote by the reporters of the Korea Sports Journalists Federation.
He set new records in the 500m and 1000m races, and also won the team pursuit (6 weeks), winning three gold medals in the winter sports event. Kim Min-sun said through the Sports Association, “First of all, I am happy and grateful to be awarded the MVP at the Winter Sports Festival, the biggest event held in Korea.” revealed
He also added, “As much as I received this meaningful award, I will try harder to show a good figure at the World Speed Skating Championships in the Netherlands.” 안전놀이터
In this competition, multiple crowns and new records were evenly produced in all age groups. Ho-jun Yang (Uijeongbu High School), a speed skater who has been doing well in international competitions, took first place in the 1500m, 5000m, team pursuit (8 weeks), and mass start, winning four gold medals in two winter sports events in a row.
Park Sang-eon (Korea National University of Sport) also won gold medals in the 5000m, 10000m, team pursuit (8 weeks), and mass start. Kim Gil-ri (Seo Hyeon-go), who competed in the short track, completed a golden race in the 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m relay.
The cross-country event has produced multiple gold medals in multiple competitions. Byun Ji-young (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) and Jo Da-eun (Hwasun Jeil Middle School) won gold medals in five events, including classic, combined, free, relay and sprint, and won five gold medals.
Na Gyeong-jun (Dasi Elementary School), Kim Woo-seok (Jinbu Middle School), Kim Seon-gyu (Jinbu High School), Lee Jin-bok (Dankook University), and Lee Ui-jin (Busan Sports Association) also won four gold medals. The youngest medalist was figure skating Kim Hee-won (8 years old, Jeonbuk Sports Club). The youngest multi-crown winner (four crowns) went to alpine skier Shin Hye-oh (Eogokcho).
In this event, 2 people won 5 gold medals, 10 people won 4 gold medals, and 22 people won 3 gold medals, and 49 new records were set, including 13 speed skating and 36 short track speed skating. Compared to the previous year’s competition, the multi-crown category increased by 10%.
Meanwhile, the opening and closing ceremonies, which are official events, were not held for this Winter Sports Festival as it was held in five cities and provinces. The comprehensive awards ceremony will be held on the 22nd at 2:00 pm at the Berlin Hall on the 4th floor of the Olympic Parktel in Oryun-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.