2025 Torino Special Olympics World Winter Games Korea's national team selection ceremony will be held
Jul 02, 2024
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The selection ceremony, held at the In-Times Inn in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 2nd, selected athletes and partners who meet the selection criteria in seven events (snowshoeing, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, short track speed skating, figure skating, snowboarding and floorball).
Unlike other competitions that select athletes in order of performance, the Special Olympics determines the participants by lottery. It is a classification method called debiting that organizes groups according to players' performance levels, selects the first winner (team) of each group as a candidate, and then selects representative players through a lottery.
As a result, any athlete with developmental disabilities with minimal performance can have the opportunity to participate in the Special Olympics as a member of the national team. This is in accordance with the regulations of the Special Olympics International Headquarters to provide more people with developmental disabilities with various international competition experiences.
The Special Olympics is one of the world's three major Olympics following the Olympics and Paralympics, and it is the world's largest sports festival for people with developmental disabilities. The Special Olympics will be held in Turin, Italy, from March 4-18, 2025, with athletes with developmental disabilities competing in eight winter events.
Special Olympics Korea will send a total of 73 South Korean athletes to Turin, including 45 athletes and partners, 16 leaders, nine staff members, two executives and a medical doctor.
Meanwhile, the leader is finally selected through an interview after reviewing the documents, and the documents will be received on the official website of Special Olympics Korea by the 10th.
Chairman Lee Yong-hoon said, "The World Special Olympics World Games are a dream stage where athletes from all over the world compete against each other beyond the Republic of Korea to display their passion and skills." He added, "We made great efforts to make fair selection to provide Korean Special Olympics athletes with even opportunities to participate in international competitions."."
Chairman Lee Yong-hoon continued "In particular, as this World Winter Games will be held in Austria for the first time in eight years since they were held in 2017, I think it will contain the heart and desire of the winter athletes."We will do our best to support the team by creating an optimal training environment so that the selected players can enter Turin and perform at their best."."
The athlete selection ceremony was broadcast on site through YouTube live streaming and can be viewed through the official YouTube channel of Special Olympics Korea.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
