Cha Jun-hwan well out of contention at figure skating worlds after subpar short program

Cha Jun-hwan's dreams of winning his first world championships medal went up in smoke on his first day of competition in France. The South Korean found himself well out of contention in 17th place after earning only 82.43 points in a mistake-filled short program at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier, France, on Thursday (local time). The 20-year-old fell more than 17 points shy of his personal best set at the Beijing Winter Olympics in Februar

March 25, 2022

Figure skater pulls out of worlds due to COVID-19

South Korean figure skater Kim Ye-lim has withdrawn from the upcoming world championships after testing positive for COVID-19, the sport's national federation said Friday. An official with the Korea Skating Union (KSU) said Kim received a positive result from her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test Thursday night and will not be able to skate at the world championships opening next Wednesday in Montpellier, France. Kim will have to isolate at home for seven days. The KSU official added that Lee

March 18, 2022

Sports ministers seek to bar Russians, Belarusians from international sports events

The sports ministers of 26 countries, including South Korea and the United States, agreed to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from international sports games to be held in their countries as part of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials said Friday. The ministers reached the agreement during a videoconference hosted by British Sports and Culture Minister Nadine Dorries at midnight to discuss joint responses to Russia's aggression, officials of the culture and sports ministry

March 4, 2022

COVID-19 causing disruptions across sports leagues

A surge in coronavirus cases has been wreaking havoc on playing schedules in South Korean professional sports this month, an eerie deja vu to previous springs when seasons were postponed or even canceled outright at the onset of the pandemic. The top two divisions in pro football just had their first weekend of the season, and it's the volleyball and basketball leagues, with their seasons in full swing for months, that have been hit the hardest. The Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO), which run

Feb. 22, 2022

NBA in sight, Lee Hyun-jung may be a new breed of athlete in Korea

In 2014, The Korea Herald asked, “Will Korea ever have ‘Linsanity’?” in an article highlighting the inherent limitations of Korea‘s student athlete system, which enforces all sport and no study. Eight years later, Lee Hyung-jung of NCAA’s Davidson College may have given us the answer. Lee is one of the key contributors to the Davidson Wildcats‘ conference-leading 21-4 record and, equally importantly, is among a new breed of Korean athletes who meet both

Feb. 16, 2022

Denied Olympic chance, short tracker cries foul over lack of transparency

A South Korean short track speed skater left off the team for the Beijing Winter Olympics due to an injury is accusing the sport's national federation of lacking transparency in its selection process. In an email statement sent to Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, Kim Ji-yoo said she was "upset" that she was "robbed of my ticket to the Beijing Olympics." "It's something precious and dear to my heart, because I earned it with so much hard work," Kim said. However, whe

Jan. 23, 2022

Beijing-bound figure skater Kim Ye-lim wins bronze in final event before Olympics

South Korean Olympic figure skater Kim Ye-lim set a new personal best en route to winning the bronze medal in her final competition before Beijing 2022. Kim scored 209.91 total points at the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on Saturday (local time), finishing in third place behind Mai Mihara of Japan (218.03 points) and fellow South Korean Lee Hae-in (213.52 points). Kim's previous career best had been 202.76 points set at the 2020 Fo

Jan. 23, 2022

New LPGA season opens this week with S. Koreans looking for bounceback

The 2022 LPGA Tour season will tee off this week in the Sunshine State, with South Korean players looking to bounce back from a relatively down year in 2021. The winners-only Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions will open the new season Thursday at the par-72 Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando. Tour winners from the past two seasons will make up the exclusive 29-player field, and they will be joined by 50 celebrities and former professional athletes. Four South Korean players

Jan. 19, 2022

Short tracker Shim Suk-hee to miss Beijing 2022 after losing injunction bid against ban

South Korean short track speed skater Shim Suk-hee has lost her injunction bid against an Olympic ban, legal sources said Tuesday, as her attempt to regain eligibility for Beijing 2022 crashed and burned. The sources said the Seoul Eastern District Court rejected Shim's application for an injunction to lift a two-month ban by the Korea Skating Union (KSU) issued in December. Shim was suspended for making disparaging comments on her teammates and coaches in a text exchange with a coach during t

Jan. 18, 2022

LPGA star Kim Sei-young to pace herself in pursuit of No. 1 ranking in 2022

Kim Sei-young had collected at least one LPGA victory in every season since bursting on to the scene in 2015, but that streak came to an end in 2021. Looking back on last season, Kim said Thursday she might have overexerted herself in the early months, and she had hit a wall before she could get anything going. Still hoping to reach the top of the rankings, the world No. 5 said she will try to pace herself better in 2022. "I had a tough year last year," Kim told reporters after a co

Jan. 13, 2022

Attorney for banned short tracker Shim Suk-hee cries foul over 'double punishment'

Two-time Olympic short track speed skating champion Shim Suk-hee launched her last-minute legal battle against a recent two-month ban on Wednesday, trying to salvage a chance to compete at next month's Beijing Winter Games. It was last Thursday that Shim filed for a court injunction against the penalty handed down by the Korea Skating Union (KSU) in December, ruling her out of the Feb. 4-20 Winter Olympics. The Seoul Eastern District Court held a hearing on Wednesday and is expected to make its

Jan. 12, 2022

Alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho maintains World Cup lead despite missing podium

South Korean Olympic snowboard medal hopeful Lee Sang-ho continues to lead the World Cup standings for the season, despite missing the podium for only the second time in his latest competition in Austria. Lee finished fifth in the men's parallel slalom race in the International Ski Federation (FIS) Snowboard World Cup in Bad Gastein, Austria, on Tuesday (local time). In his five previous World Cup races, Lee had collected one gold, one silver and one bronze in the parallel giant slalom, and one

Jan. 12, 2022

Lone teenager at nat'l football camp inspired by Son Heung-min

At the tender of 19, Gwangju FC midfielder Eom Ji-sung earned his first callup to the men's senior national football team for January's training camp in Turkey. The talented teenager stands out for his skills and maturity, but on the other hand, he is no different than most South Korean football players his age in one aspect. Eom is a great admirer of Son Heung-min, the longtime South Korean captain and Tottenham Hotspur star. "He has been my role model, and he is the one player that I'd

Jan. 11, 2022

Alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho wins World Cup bronze, bolsters Beijing medal hope

South Korean alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho has collected his fourth medal in the ongoing World Cup season, further brightening hope of a second straight Olympic podium finish in Beijing next month. Lee earned bronze in the men's parallel giant slalom race at the latest International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup event in Scuol, Switzerland, on Saturday (local time). Lee defeated Mirko Felicetti of Italy by 0.44 second in the "small final," or the race for third place. Dmitrii Login

Jan. 9, 2022

K League adds new promotion-relegation playoff for 2022

South Korean club football will have an additional promotion-relegation playoff in 2022, providing an extra second-division club with a chance to compete with the big boys. The Korea Professional Football League (K League) announced a few changes to the competition for the 2022 season Tuesday. On the top of the list was the new playoff round after the end of the season with a spot in the K League 1 at stake. Until last season, the winner of the K League 2 earned an automatic promotion to the K

Jan. 4, 2022

S. Korea sets low medal target for Beijing 2022

South Korea's national Olympic body set a humble target for medals at the upcoming Beijing Winter Games on Thursday, with hopes of winning a gold medal or two for a top-15 finish. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) predicted South Korea will fall well short of its Winter Olympic-record total of 17 medals won at home during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. South Korea won five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals to finish seventh in the medal race then. This time around, t

Dec. 23, 2021

Volleyball news, good and bad, prominent in annual rankings of S. Korean sports stories

No South Korean sport went through the kind of roller-coaster ride that volleyball did in 2021. The sport's highest of highs and the lowest of lows dominated the news cycle and also the annual rankings of the top 10 sports stories released by Yonhap News Agency on Thursday. A series of off-court scandals in the sport ranked No. 1 in Yonhap's survey of 51 South Korean newspapers and broadcasters, with 315 points. A first-place vote was worth 10 points, with a second-place vote worth nine points

Dec. 23, 2021

Led by Olympic medalists, S. Korea earns 13 quotas in speed skating at Beijing 2022

South Korea has secured 13 quota places in speed skating for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, with a few medalists from the previous Winter Games in 2018 earning another shot at the podium. The International Skating Union (ISU) announced its allocation of quota places for speed skating on Thursday, based on results from four ISU World Cup competitions this season. On the women's side, South Korea won a spot in the 500m, two places in the 1,000m, and two more in the mass start. For men, South

Dec. 23, 2021

Olympic short track champion Shim Suk-hee banned for 2 months for off-ice trouble, Beijing status in limbo

Two-time Olympic short track speed skating champion Shim Suk-hee was slapped with a two-month ban for disparaging coaches and teammates Tuesday, a decision that, barring a successful appeal, will keep her out of the Beijing Winter Games in February. The Korea Skating Union held a disciplinary meeting Tuesday at its Seoul headquarters to hand down the punishment on Shim, who denigrated members of the South Korean team in expletive-laden text exchanges with a national team coach during the 2018 P

Dec. 21, 2021

[Herald Interview] B-girl Yell from ‘Street Woman Fighter’ looks to become world’s top breaker

With breakdancing taking the country by storm on the back of TV survival shows, fans were yet more excited by the news that four break dancers will represent South Korea in the upcoming 2022 Asian Games. Among them stands Kim Ye-ri, who has recently cemented her status as Korea’s top female breakdancer. Better known as B-girl Yell or dance crew YGX’s Ye-ri to cable TV dancing competition “Street Woman Fighter,” Kim got to where she is now thanks to a “spirit of d

Dec. 13, 2021