Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Visits Winter Paralympics Site to Encourage South Korean Athletes

*This content was translated by AI.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young visited the site of the "2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Paralympics" on the 11th to encourage the Korean national team and check the local support situation.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "Korea achieved a historic feat in which biathlon athlete Kim Yoon-ji won the first Winter Paralympic gold medal ever for a Korean female athlete, and snowboarder Lee Je-hyuk did not give up until the end despite the collision during the game and won the bronze medal, the first medal in Korean Paralympic snowboarding, continuing his stellar performance in snow sports." Minister Choi Hwi-young visited our team's game site, which has been reporting victory since the beginning of the competition, adding to the energy of support. Visiting the wheelchair curling four-man race to pray for good performance by athletes who show high concentration on the ice, and watching the biathlon men's and women's sprint tracking race to support the athletes' passion in snow events. "After that, we watch the Alpine Ski Women's Spinning and Snowboard Banked Slalom, and encourage the athletes to overcome the limits and divide the snow fields," he said.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added, "This 'Milano Winter Paralympics' marks the 50th anniversary of the first competition in 1976, and our team is opening a new heyday for disabled sports with the best performance ever."

Minister Choi also closely inspected the base of on-site support so that our players can maintain their best condition and focus only on the game. He met with players who had endured hard training at Cortina's athletes' village and listened to their difficulties, and checked whether the team's situation room and medical support facilities were operating without a hitch.

He also visited "Korea House," a hub for local sports diplomacy and a shelter for athletes, to examine the status of Korean meal support provided for athletes and the operation of professional support services such as equipment repair centers, and encourage officials who are silently supporting them there.

Minister Choi Hwi-young said, "The 'gold race' shown by athletes on the rough snowlands of Italy proves the value of fighting spirit beyond disability for all of our people," adding, "We will take care of the health and safety of the players until the end of the competition so that the efforts of the players who have sweated with pride as a member of the Korean national team over the past four years will not be in vain."

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*This content was translated by AI.