PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- South Korea’s lone Nordic combined skier Park Je-un expressed regret Thursday that he failed to overcome his nerves during his first Winter Olympics performance.
Park finished 46th among 47 competitors in the individual Gundersen normal hill/10-kilometer event at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Wednesday with a time of 30 minutes, 56.5 seconds. He was more than six minutes slower than gold medalist Eric Frenzel of Germany.
Although he became the first South Korean to compete in a Nordic combined event at the Olympics, Park said he is more than disappointed.
“I‘m not proud,” he said. “I just feel disappointed. I think I failed to control my nerves.”
Korea`s Park Je-un is seen after finishing his run at the Winter Olympics Nordic combined individual Gundersen normal hill 10km event at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. (Yonhap)
Park was 42nd in the ski jumping portion with 73.3 points following his 86-meter jump at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. That resulted him starting 3:49 later than interim leader Franz-Josef Rehrl in cross-country section.
“I feel more disappointed in ski jumping,” he said. “I really practiced a lot, but I think I just didn’t have good balance because I was nervous.”
Park also failed to make up his loss later, as he stumbled in the cross-country skiing at Alpensia Cross-Country Centre.
“My body was in good condition, but in cross-country skiing, I was just heavy-footed,” he said. “I never felt like this before.”
Park is currently the only Nordic combined skier for South Korea. The Nordic combined national team was first formed in 2013, but only Park is still competing.
“You don‘t feel lonely when you’re competing, but you feel that after training,” he said. “I think my character has also changed. I was a positive-minded guy, but after series of poor results, I just feel pressure these days.”
Park said frequent coaching changes in the national team has been also bothering him. The 24-year-old said he really needs to overcome Olympic pressure to produce good results.
“After the Olympic Games are over, I think we will not see support and attention like today,” he said. “To keep those things ongoing, I need to produce results and that also gives me pressure.”
Park will have another opportunity to perform at the PyeongChang Olympics with the individual Gundersen large hill/10km event set for Tuesday.
“I‘ve already reached this far, so I’ll just go out there and perform,” he said. “I‘ll go far as I can.” (Yonhap)
