Winter Olympics: Korean ’Iron Man’ Wins Historic Skeleton Gold
Local Editor
South Korea's Yun Sung-bin made history Friday as he became Asia's first Olympic skeleton champion after dominating the daredevil event at the Pyeongchang Games.
Roared on by the home crowd at the start of the lunar New Year, the 23-year-old pulverized the opposition to win his country's second gold medal of the Games - with plenty to spare.
Yun clocked a combined time of three minutes, 20.55 seconds for his four runs, with Nikita Tregubov, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, taking silver.
Dom Parson's celebrated with gusto after winning Britain's first skeleton medal in 70 years. But the day belonged to Yun, who slides in an Iron Man helmet with glowing eyes that make him look like a superhero as he rockets around the course.
"It has been my dream to win the gold medal since I started off in skeleton," the South Korean told reporters after triumphing by a record margin of 1.63 seconds.
"But this is just the beginning for me."
Yun sank to his knees as he soaked up the adulation of the crowd, thanking them for their raucous support as they chanted his name.
"I was a little worried about racing on the morning of the lunar new year," the former world silver medalist added.
"It's a national holiday so I thought not many people would come to support. But so many people came to watch and I know many more watched on TV.
"That support really helped push me to win the gold medal."
Before these Games, only nine different countries had won medals in skeleton, where athletes throw themselves down an icy chute on their bellies head-first.
Typically, the likes of the United States, Austria, Canada, Germany and Switzerland have dominated the sport but Yun upset the established order with his breath-taking speed.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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