Olympic Aspirations

[Anchor Lead]

Young athletes are looking forward to the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. The athletes in this next report are too young to compete at this year’s winter games, but all the same they are training hard through the bitter cold with an eye toward the future.

[Pkg]

Darkness falls at a winter Olympic stadium in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province. But a training center is brightly lit and filled with passion of young athletes. They sometimes fall and perform inaccurate movements. However, the young athletes on the ice rink jump and practice over and over until the techniques have become second nature to them. Their days are packed with hectic schedules, since they begin practices at night after studying at school during the daytime. Despite the physical challenges, they continue to practice for the goal of becoming a next Kim Yu-na.

[Soundbite] Lee Se-bin(Figure Skater) : "I want to participate in the Olympic Games. I want to become a choreographer if I retire from figure skating."

The Gangwon-do Sports Council is fostering roughly 100 athletes in winter sports categories, including figure skating and short track speed skating. They have no exclusive training rink and have to practice among non-athletic, hobby skaters on weekdays. But they are looking forward to participating in the Winter Olympic Games.

[Soundbite] Choi Kang-min(Short-track Speed Skater) : "My dream is to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games."

They are also charged with expectations to see world-class athletes' performances with their own eyes.

[Soundbite] Im Ha-eun(Figure Skater) : "You have trained hard until now. I wish you will achieve good results in the Olympic Games. Fighting!"

The aspiring young athletes are training hard today with the goal to compete in the next winter Olympics.