Victory of Seven Against Thousand Guys

South Korea beat Japan, which boasts of 10 jumping ramps and 1,000 athletes. On the other hand, South Korea has only 7 athletes and one ski jump.

In the group competition held yesterday at the ski jump site in Owani Town, Japan, South Korea recorded 952 points and won the gold medal over Japan (923).

At the end of the first trial, it was heralded that South Korean would win the gold medal. The South Korean team wrapped up the first jump with 24.5 points` lead against Japan, where Kim Hyun-gee, Choi Heung-chul, Choi Yong-jik and Kang Chil-goo jumped. In detail, Kim flew 90m. Then, two Chois jumped 180m in total. Then, Kang, who won two gold medals in the last Winter Universiade, flew 93.5m, leaving Japan behind for good.

This is the second miracle of South Korean ski jumpers. The first one happened in the last Winter Universiade. Thus, they could sink down those who disparaged their achievement in the Universiade.

South Korean coach Choi Don-gook said, "By winning this medal, all four of them are exempted from the military service. Glad they could train together and play in the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. If they had failed to win the medal, South Koreans would have lost their interest in ski jumping for good."