Yoon Sung-bin rises to No. 2 in skeleton world rankings

Yoon Sung-bin (22), the flagship player of the Korean men’s skeleton, has won a medal for five consecutive events of the World Cup series, and secured No. 2 place in world rankings. In just four years after making his debut in skeleton in 2012, Yoon has become a powerhouse who is now threatening the status of Martins Dukurs (32, No. 1 in world rankings) and Thomas Dukurs (35, No. 3) of Latvia who are the "two pillars of world skeletons."

In Whistler, British Columbia in Canada on Sunday, Yoon ranked third overall in the sixth competition of the IBSF Season World Cup 2015-2016. After receiving the silver medal in succession in the fourth and fifth competitions, he recorded a combined time of 1:45:24 in the first and second races. Martins and Thomas posted a time of 1:44:31 and 1:44:59 to rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively in the competition. Martins ranked first in all six World Cup competitions this season.

By winning medals in all of the second to fifth competitions (World Cup events award medals to players ranking up to fifth, Yoon has secured 1,140 ranking points overall, seeing his ranking rise by one level again. Thus, he now has a gap of 210 points against Martins (1,350 points). Axel Jungk of Germany, who was ranking second through the fifth competition, only added 152 points in the sixth competition by ranking ninth to rank fourth (1,122 point) overall. Thomas added 210 points to garner 1,138 points overall, and ranked third (1,122 points) after Yoon.

“I had expectations for good outcome in the competition since Yoon displayed good results during official training prior to the race. But the Tukurs brothers showcased an excellent race thanks to their good physical and mental conditions,” Korean national team coach Richard Bromley said. “Yoon displayed amazing performance since he remained focused to the end, and won the bronze medal.”

Yoon is taking on challenge to go beyond the fame of Kazuhiro Koshi (52) of Japan, who was an Asian skeleton hero. Ranked second overall in the 1997-1998 and 2000-2001 seasons of the World Cup, and third in the 2002-2003 season, Kazuhiro won the gold medal at the 1999 World Cup Nakano Series competition. He also ranked eighth in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, achieving the best performances in the World Cup and Olympics among Asian skeleton athletes.

유재영기자 elegant@donga.com