Sports

Yun Sungbin of South Korea wins men's skeleton

February 16, 2018 at 7:09AM

Yun Sungbin of South Korea navigated a curve on his way to a record-setting skeleton victory. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Yun Sungbin left no doubt. It's his track. It's his gold medal.

The most decisive Olympic skeleton champion ever is a 23-year-old South Korean who had no idea what he was doing on a sled a few years ago and now stands taller than anyone else in the sport.

Yun won in commanding fashion at the Pyeongchang Games on Friday, his four-run time of 3 minutes, 20.55 seconds coming in 1.63 seconds ahead of silver medalist Nikita Tregubov of Russia. Most skeleton races are decided by tenths or hundredths of a second, but Yun was dominant from start to finish — the fastest slider, in every way, in every heat.

"Getting the gold medal in any Olympics is a very great result," Yun said. "But getting the gold here in my home country is a very great honor, much bigger than that."

It was the largest margin of victory in any Olympic sliding race — luge, bobsled or skeleton — in 46 years. For perspective, the average winning margin in a men's World Cup skeleton race this season was 0.37 seconds.

It's South Korea first Olympic sliding gold.

Yun stepped onto the award podium shortly after finishing, arms skyward as thousands of his fellow South Koreans roared.

Happy New Year, indeed. On a national holiday in Korea — the start of a lunar new year — Yun became a national hero. He is the reigning World Cup overall champion, is now the Olympic champion and his career is only just starting.

The only drama was who would finish second. Tregubov won that battle, edging Dom Parsons of Britain.

Snowboardcross champs

Italy's Michela Moioli won the gold medal in women's snowboardcross, overtaking American Lindsey Jacobellis about halfway down the course, then beating the rest of the field to the finish line.

Jacobellis finished fourth, continuing her hard-luck career at the Olympics. The world's most decorated snowboardcross rider, Jacobellis has failed to return to the podium since settling for silver after an ill-advised jump in 2006 while she was clear in the lead.

Julia Pereira de Sousa Mablieau of France took silver this time. Defending champion Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic got clipped from behind and skidded across the line for bronze.

Jacobellis had about a two-body-length lead on the field when Moioli overtook her on a curve. Samkova drafted behind and pushed Jacobellis out to the edge of the course, and from there she couldn't gain any ground.

Pierre Vaultier of France won the men's race, after falling during his qualifying heat. Vaultier sprinted to the front early in the final to capture France's second gold medal at the extreme park this week. Australia's Jarryd Hughes took silver, with Regino Hernandez earning a rare Winter Games medal for Spain by finishing third. U.S. teammates Nick Baumgartner and Mick Dierdorff advanced to the final, but both washed out on a jump.

Markus Schairer of Austria broke his neck in a frightening crash during the quarterfinals and returned home for treatment. There was no indication Schairer experienced neurological impairment or long-term damage.

Men's hockey

Rene Bourque and Wojtek Wolski each scored twice and Derek Roy had three assists as Canada opened its men's hockey schedule with a 5-1 win over Switzerland in Gangneung.

The NHL players aren't here, but Canada has plenty of NHL flavor. Bourque scored 163 goals for six NHL teams, and Canada's 25-man roster boasts 5,544 NHL games played, led by captain Chris Kelly with 833.

Sweden opened play with a 4-0 win over Norway, even after leaving highly rated young defenseman Rasmus Dahlin on the bench as a healthy scratch. Linus Omark finished with three assists.

South Korea, in the first Olympic game in its history, lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic.

Etc.

• Natalie Geisenberger became the first Olympian to win four luge gold medals by helping Germany win the team relay in the sport's final event at the Pyeongchang Games. Geisenberger has two singles golds and two relay golds, this one coming with Johannes Ludwig, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. Canada's Sam Edney teamed with Alex Gough and the doubles sled of Tristan Walker and Justin Snith to finish second.

• American freestyle skier Ashley Caldwell admits it: She loves the risk because she loves the reward. On Thursday night, there was no prize for her daring. She failed to land either of her triple-flip jumps in qualifying and will watch the final from the sidelines. It's a loss for her, but also for the sport, where Caldwell is the only jumper in the field who consistently tries triples, whether in qualifying or the final.