[Olympics] '6th Olympics' Lee Chaewon, 61st in Cross-Country 15km Skiathlon

Women's 15km Skiathlon Finished in 61st Place

Lee Chaewon is climbing a slope during the women's 7.5km+7.5km skiathlon cross-country skiing event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, held on the afternoon of the 5th at the National Cross-Country Ski Center in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Lee Chaewon (40, Pyeongchang County Office), a member of the Korean cross-country skiing team who participated in the first event for the Korean delegation at the Beijing Winter Olympics, successfully completed the race.

On the 5th, Lee Chaewon finished 61st out of 65 competitors with a time of 55 minutes 52.6 seconds in the women's cross-country 15km skiathlon held at the National Cross-Country Center in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The women's 15km skiathlon is a race divided into two 7.5km sections: the classic technique, where skis are kept parallel and moved quickly, and the free technique, where skis are pushed outward on both sides.

Since her first appearance at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Lee Chaewon competed in the 2006 Torino and 2010 Vancouver Games, and achieved Korea's best Olympic cross-country skiing result by finishing 33rd at the 2014 Sochi Games.

After completing the race at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and announcing her retirement, Lee Chaewon changed her mind and took on the challenge again, securing her spot at the Beijing Games by ranking first in the national team selection in December last year. With this participation, Lee Chaewon joined the record of six consecutive Olympic appearances held by only four Koreans, including Lee Gyu-hyeok (speed skating).

Han Dasom (27, Gyeonggi Province Office), who also competed that day, failed to complete the race. The women's 15km cross-country event, which was the first gold medal for cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics, was won by Norway's Therese Johaug with a time of 44 minutes 13.7 seconds.

Natalia Nepryayeva (26, Russian Olympic Committee) finished second, 30.2 seconds behind. Teresa Stadlober (29, Austria) finished third, 0.3 seconds behind Nepryayeva.