Held at Oak Valley Ski Resort for two days, January 6~7
this lead to the construction of a strong national team for the Winter Olympics and to the expansion of the skiing fan base
The National Elementary School Ski Competition was held to train upcoming athletes that could shine at the Pyeong Chang Winter Olympic Games in 2018. On January 6~7, Dankook University (President Chang Ho-sung) held the ‘7th Joong-Jae-Bae National Elementary School Ski Competition at Oak Valley Ski Resort located in Moon-mak, Gangwon-do.
About 200 amateur skiers came from elementary schools around the nation and showed off their talents. In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, finding a rising star and to expanding the fan base of skiing, this year’s event had loosened the qualifications of the participants compared to previous competitions and the competition was conducted in two parts.
In the 1st part of the competition, elementary school students who are registered with the Korean Ski Association were divided into groups by gender and competed in Alpine(Spin, Big Spin) and Cross-Country (Short track, Long track) and sectioned into three groups: 1st & 2nd graders, 3rd & 4th graders, 5th & 6th graders. 14.4 million won was given to the athletes from each group. The 2nd part of the competition which was just started this year, athletes who aren’t registered with the Korean Ski Association could also participate. The competition was held with 3 groups for each gender: 1st & 2nd graders, 3rd & 4th graders, 5 & 6 graders.
Celebrating its 7th anniversary this year, the Joong-Jae-Bae National Elementary School Ski Competition was started by former students commemorating Dr. Joongjae Chang (Chairman of the Educational Foundation of Dankook University, Chairman of the Beom-eun Scholarship Foundation) who has been dedicating his life to developing Korea’s winter sports and other sporting competitions because of his passion for sports.
In 2008, the university revived the national scale of ski competition for elementary school students which was in the downhill stage and caught the nation’s attention. Also, it is continuously focusing on finding up and coming skiers to prepare for the Pyeong Chang Winter Olympic Games in 2018. The event is held every year to build a base to make Korea a stronger competitor in the Winter Olympic Games by increasing the popularity of skiing.
Since 1967, Dankook University has been searching for up and coming athletes by supporting equipment mainly to Doam elementary school and Doam middle school in Hyeong-gye, Gangwon-do in order to promote winter sports in Korea, which at the time had few Olympic class winter athletes. In 1968, it established a ski club, the first university in Korea to do so, and an ice skating club in 1976; the university has been a leader in developing winter sports in Korea.