A bobsledder from Thailand, a wasteland of winter sports, stood tall as a medalist at the Winter Youth Olympics in Pyeongchang with the help of a project that started as a ‘legacy’ of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.Campheol Agnes (17), who represented Thailand’s bobsled team at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, beat Maya Voigt (Denmark, 1 minute 53.31 minutes) in the women’s monobob (single-seater) competition held at the Alpensia Sliding Center in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do on the 22nd. He then came in second place (1 minute 54.17 seconds) and won the silver medal.This is the first medal won by Thailand at the Winter Olympics, both for adults and youth.Since 2020, Campheol has developed its skills through the winter sports athlete training project for underdeveloped and developing countries, hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, and Pyeongchang-gun, and organized by the 2018 Pyeongchang Memorial Foundation, and entered this competition.
This project, which was implemented to inherit and develop the legacy of the Pyeongchang Olympics, provided athletes from countries with underdeveloped winter sports the opportunity to train in Pyeongchang or compete in international competitions to qualify for Gangwon 2024.Including Campheol, 25 athletes from 9 countries and 6 sports participated in Gangwon 2024 through this project.Campheol, who could only do sprints and weight training in Thailand, where there were no winter training facilities, including a sliding track, was able to build up his skills by traveling to Korea with the support of this project. After winning the medal, Campheol said in an interview with the Olympic Information Service that he was grateful that “the Pyeongchang Heritage Foundation’s programs supported us.”
“I’m very proud. This is Thailand’s history,” he said, delighted with winning the medal. “At first, I had no idea what bobsledding was, but I wanted to try it. It’s difficult to fight against myself, but I really like bobsledding.”Campeol, who cited Kylie Humphreys, the monobob gold medalist at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, as her role model, is also dreaming of participating in the 2026 Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics.He strengthened his resolve, saying, “No matter what happens, I will push forward 100%. The result doesn’t matter.”In the women’s monobob competition that day, Sophie Gorbal and Beya Mokrani, who also participated in the Pyeongchang Legacy Project, made history as Tunisia’s first ‘Winter Olympics debut’.Mokrani finished the meaningful challenge in 10th place (1 minute 56.28 seconds), and Gorbal finished in the 온라인카지노 lowest place, 12th place (1 minute 56.31 seconds).