By Lee Eunkyung (eunklee94@korea.ac.kr)

In last winter, the Winter Olympic was held in Sochi and many athletes participated within. On behalf of Korea, many Korea University (KU) athletesㅡboth graduates and undergraduatesㅡplayed important roles in various fields. The most well-known is Kim Yuna (09’, Physical Education), a top figure skater who surprised the country by announcing that she is dating a hockey playerㅡalso a KU graduate.

Other than her, there is Lee Sang-hwa (Graduate School of Education) who continuously won gold in both Vancouver and Sochi. Then follows Lee Kyou-hyuk (’97, Business School), a speed skater who participated in Sochi six times and Cho Ha-ri (’05, Physical Education) a gold medalist who showed a great teamwork in Women’s 3000 meter relay.

Kim Yun-jae (’09, Physical Education) is another Olympics player, having taken part in short track speed skating. Shin Bong-shik (’12, Sports and Leisure Studies) and Kyung Sung-hyun (’09, Physical Education) dared to take challenges in unpopular fieldsㅡ alpine snowboarding and skiing respectively.

“I got a broken leg in November last year. So I could not give my best out,” said Kyung expressing a slight regret. Indeed, Kyung is called the ace of the field among Korean players. Nevertheless, he skied in Olympics with fighting spirit. So, on March 3, seven Olympic participants all received appreciation plaques from the KU chancellor at the Korean Studies Hall.

Although Kim Yuna, Lee Sang-hwa and Shin Bong-shik did not come to the ceremonial event, the gathering smoothly proceeded. The chancellor thanked them for their noted works in the global sports event. In response, the KU athletes all paid gratitude of gaining the golden certificates.