[PyeongChang 2018] Mental training key to S. Korean skeleton sliders' success

 South Korean skeleton sliders' remarkable achievements at the PyeongChang Olympic Games were largely helped by mental training, the coach of the athletes said Saturday.

South Korea saw Yun Sung-bin become the first Asian to claim the gold medal in the men's skeleton Friday, while his teammate Kim Ji-soo took sixth in his Winter Games debut.

South Korean skeleton sliders Yun Sung-bin (L) with the gold medal and Kim Ji-soo pose for a photo at Team Korea House in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)

Lee Yong, the head coach of the national skeleton and bobsleigh team, said taking mental training programs from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee turned out to be a big help for his athletes' success.

Instead of training only at Olympic Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, the competition venue for sliding sports, Lee's team headed to Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, earlier this month and stayed there about a week to improve their physical and mental strength.

"When you're psychologically unstable, you can't control your sled," Lee said. "We invited a trainer to help athletes' mentality before entering the Olympic Games. I was amazed by how well it worked."

Yun entered the PyeongChang Olympics as the world's top-ranked slider. Given that he was chased by other competitors at the Olympics, Lee said it was important to manage the 23-year-old slider's mental state.

South Korean skeleton sliders Yun Sung-bin. (Yonhap)

"Before this Olympics, Yun was always the chaser who was following Martins Dukurs," he said. "But at the Olympics, Yun was on the opposite side, and we needed to have measures on that aspect. Before we came to PyeongChang, we were told how to deal with the athlete's mentality."

Yun agreed that the mental training program helped his gold medal run at Olympic Sliding Centre in PyeongChang. Throughout his four runs, Yun never lost the lead, and he finished the race by setting track and start records.

"Our psychological state is really important, because one small thing can change your rankings in this sport," he said. "When I was at Jincheon National Training Center, it was really fun to take these programs without worries. Because you have to race four times, it's very important to keep your composure." (Yonhap)