(Olympics) Alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho knocked out early in medal hunt

유지호 / 2022-02-08 16:42:09

(Olympics) S Korea-snowboard

▲ Lee Sang-ho of South Korea reacts to his loss to Victor Wild of the Russian Olympic Committee in the quarterfinals of the men's parallel giant slalom snowboard event at the Beijing Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park P & X Stadium in Zhangjiakou, some 180 kilometers northwest of Beijing, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Yonhap)

(Olympics) S Korea-snowboard

(Olympics) Alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho knocked out early in medal hunt

By Yoo Jee-ho

BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the men's parallel giant slalom event at Beijing 2022 on Tuesday, as one of the country's best medal hopes was sent packing by the slimmest of margins.

Lee lost to Victor Wild of the Russian Olympic Committee by 0.01 second in the quarterfinal at Genting Snow Park P & X Stadium in Zhangjiakou, some 180 kilometers northwest of Beijing.

After two qualifying runs, the top 16 out of 31 snowboarders advanced to the knockout stage, where they were dropped into a tournament-like bracket.

Lee won the qualification round and beat the No. 16 seed from Italy, Daniele Bagozza, by 0.92 second in the first knockout race.

But Lee, the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup points leader, was upset in the next stage and didn't even get to compete for a medal in his second Olympic appearance.

Lee won a historic silver medal in the parallel giant slalom at PyeongChang 2018. He remains the only South Korean snowboarder with an Olympic medal.

South Korea is still looking for its first medal at Beijing 2022. The country has been shut out of short track medals after two days' worth of races.

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