Sungbin YUN

Republic of Korea

Skeleton

Date of Birth: 23 May 1994

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Place of birth: JINJU

Birth Country:

Republic of Korea

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Skeleton	Men	12

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Official Training Heat 1	Finished
After Heat 1	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Official Training Heat 2	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Official Training Heat 3	Finished
After Heat 3	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Official Training Heat 4	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Official Training Heat 5	Finished
After Heat 5	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Official Training Heat 6	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Heat 1	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Heat 2	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Heat 3	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Men Heat 4	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Historical Results

Olympic Games
Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
1	Men	2018	PyeongChang, KOR	00:03:20.550
16	Men	2014	Sochi, RUS	00:03:49.570

World Championships
Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
2	Men	2016	Innsbruck, AUT	3:29.97
3	Men	2019	Whistler, BC, CAN	3:28.99
6	Men	2020	Altenberg, GER	3:45.91
8	Men	2015	Winterberg, GER	3:46.09
17	Men	2021	Altenberg, GER	3:50.97

World Cup Rankings
Season	Men
2021/22	11
2020/21	17
2019/20	3
2018/19	2
2017/18	1
2016/17	2
2015/16	2
2014/15	6

World Cup - Best Achievements
Season	Men
2021/22	2 x 6th, 1 x 9th, 1 x 10th
2020/21	1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th
2019/20	1 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd
2018/19	2 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd

Ten Best World Cup Performances in Current Season
Rank	Event	Season	Location	Result
6	Men	2021/22	Innsbruck, AUT	1:45.56
6	Men	2021/22	Winterberg, GER	56.60
9	Men	2021/22	Winterberg, GER	1:52.04
10	Men	2021/22	St. Moritz, SUI	2:15.66
13	Men	2021/22	Altenberg, GER	1:55.66
13	Men	2021/22	Innsbruck, AUT	1:46.70
17	Men	2021/22	Sigulda, LAT	1:42.94
26	Men	2021/22	Altenberg, GER	57.43

Hobbies:

Watching movies

Occupation:

Athlete, Student

Education:

Korea National Sport University (Seoul).

Languages spoken:

Korean, English

Club name:

Gangwon Provincial Office

Coach:

National: Cho Inho (KOR)
Club: Lee Yong (KOR)

National team:

2012

Start:

Grew up in Namhae, a city on Korea’s south coast, where he excelled in many sports at school including soccer, badminton, competitive running, and jumping, among others, but knew nothing about the winter sliding sports. Fast and tall, with natural athletic ability, his physical education teacher suggested he take up sliding sports after PyeongChang was awarded the 2018 Games in 2011. (yna.co.kr, 6 Mar 2018; olympics.com, 6 Feb 2020)

Reason:

While he was attending Korean National Sport University, he was recruited into the sport. “I didn’t know much about skeleton, and neither did people around me. At first sight, I thought it would be thrilling, similar to riding a rollercoaster. However, on my first ride, I realised that going down the track at over 100 kph could never be easy.” (yna.co.kr, 6 Mar 2018; olympics.com, 6 Feb 2020)

Memorable:

Winning skeleton gold at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Hero:

Skeleton slider Martins Dukurs (LAT), two-time Olympic silver medallist (2010, 2014), six-time World champion. Has the most World Cup titles. (Info 2018)

Award:

Rookie Award (2016), at the 21st Korean Athletics Awards

General Interest

SPORTING ROYALTY
Became Asia’s first gold medallist in the skeleton with his title at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, sold his sport to a nation, and became sporting royalty, so much so, he has been dubbed “Emperor”. Now he is among the most popular athletes in South Korea and skeleton is booming. His success, and having top-notch facilities means that skeleton, along with bobsleigh and luge, are now growing in popularity. “It took a long time, but skeleton is now known in Korea. I am grateful for drawing more attention to skeleton than before, and I want to inspire those who dream of doing skeleton. I will think of the PyeongChang Olympics for the rest of my life.” (olympics.com, 6 Feb 2020)

IRON MAN
His helmet has the image of the character 'Iron Man' depicted on it, as he identifies with the superhero. Like Yun, he is man and machine working in perfect harmony. “Other heroes are created by an unknown force but I especially like Iron Man because he is a hero born of his own capacity." (olympics.com, 6 Feb 2020)

Milestones

Won skeleton gold at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games on a national holiday in Korea - the start of a lunar new year. Became the first athlete from outside Europe and North America to win an Olympic sliding medal, and the first athlete from the Republic of Korea to win a Winter Olympic medal in a non-ice skating event. He finished 1.63 seconds ahead of silver medallist Nikita Tregubov (RUS) in the biggest victory margin in Olympic skeleton history, topping 1948, when Italy’s Nino Bibbia beat Jack Heaton of the United States of America by 1.4 seconds in a six-heat race. (time.com, 16 Feb 2018)

Two-time World Championships medallist winning one silver (2016) and one bronze (2019).

Recorded his first World Cup podium with a bronze in December 2014 in Calgary. First World Cup podium victory was in 2016 in St. Moritz, making him the first skeleton slider representing the Republic of Korea to win a World Cup race.

Won the overall 2017/18 World Cup, three weeks before the start of the Olympic Winter Games on his home track in PyeongChang. First Asian athlete to ever win the overall title.

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/wnahrtk

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos