President Yoon Suk-yeol congratulated Won Yu-min on the 9th, saying, "I sincerely congratulate Won Yu-min on being elected as the new athlete representative of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)."
On the afternoon of the same day, President Yoon posted a message on Facebook, stating, "Having experienced both the Summer and Winter Paralympics and being elected through voting, he has become Korea's first athlete representative, opening a new horizon in the history of Korean sports."
He added, "I hope that over the next four years, he will play a significant role not only in the development of sports for people with disabilities in Korea but also in expanding the Paralympic stage," and "We all support the activities of Won Yu-min as an IPC athlete representative together with the entire nation."
Athlete representative Won lost both legs in a traffic accident at the age of four. After immigrating to Canada with his family at the age of 12, he was selected for the Canadian national wheelchair basketball team and participated in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. Later, in 2017, he regained Korean nationality and switched to Nordic skiing, becoming the first naturalized Korean athlete to compete on the Paralympic stage at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics.
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