Yun Sungbin Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About 2018 Olympics Gold Medalist Skeleton Racer

Yun Sung-Bin was born in 1994. He is a Korean skeleton racer. He recently won the gold medal in men's skeleton at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang and he was also a participant at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Born in 1994 in South Korea’s southern coastal region of Namhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Yun knew nothing about winter sliding sport as he grew up. But as a child, Yun was always very fond of sports and used to love running around at the beach. He loved to play soccer, badminton and other competitive sports like running and jumping. Yun shifted to Seoul when he was in middle school, and continued playing sports at school hoping to get admission into a sports university. In 100 m races, he would ask to start 10 m back from others his age and still beat other runners. He had known about his ability right then that he performed better than the others in his school. At 1.78 m in height, he could easily grab a basketball. While playing basketball in high school, Yun's talented athletic ability was noticed by his physical education teacher, Kim Young-tae, who was also serving as one of the officials at the Korea Bobsleigh Skeleton Federation at the time. Yun attended Korea National Sport University, who had recruited him because of his teacher's recommendation.

Sung-Bin has an exceptional grasping power and athleticism. He is also a quick-learner. He is well-known for his Iron Man-like helmet which gives him an appearance of a Marvel comic hero who is flying at full speed ahead. Sung-Bin began with men's skeleton in 2012. After three-month training in the sport, he won the national championship in September 2012. Sung-Bin made his international debut in the 2012–13 season, appearing at the North American Cup Tour. Sung-Bin first received attention in the 2013–14 season when he was placed fifth overall at the 2013–14 FIBT Intercontinental Cup Tour. He won gold medal in the sixth round of the tour in Whistler, Canada on January 5–6, 2014, thereby becoming the first Korean skeleton slider to finish on top of the podium at an international event. Sung-Bin finished his first Olympic competition with a disappointing 16th place in 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He, however, performed well in the 2014–15 season under the coaching of British sled specialist Richard Bromley who is also a co-founder of Bromley Sports, one of the world’s top sled manufacturing companies. Sung-Bin recorded his first World Cup podium with a bronze medal at Calgary in December 2014. In the overall 2014–15 World Cup rankings, Sung-Bin finished his rookie season in sixth place with one silver medal and two bronze medal. In the 2015–16 season, Sung-Bin earned his first World Cup gold medal in the seventh round in St. Moritz, along with a silver at the 2016 IBSF World Championships in Igls, finishing the season's overall World Cup rankings in second place with one gold medal, three silver medals and two bronze medals. In the 2016–17 season, Sung-Bin earned his second World Cup gold medal in the first round in Whistler. He finished the season's overall World Cup rankings in second place with one gold, three silver and two bronze. Sung-Bin won the overall 2017–18 World Cup, becoming the first Asian athlete to ever win the overall title in the Skeleton World Cup. Despite opting to miss the World Cup finale in Königssee, he managed to score a total of 1,545 points from five wins and two silver medals. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Sung-Bin captured a gold medal, becoming the first athlete from outside Europe and North America to win an Olympic sliding medal, and the first athlete from South Korea to win a Winter Olympic medal in a non-ice skating event.

The net worth of the skeleton racer is currently under review.

Before the PyeongChang Winter Olympics had begun, athletes from only nine different countries had won medals in men's skeleton. The athletes came from Winter Olympics mainstays like the United States, Austria, Canada, Germany and Switzerland but Yun Sung-Bin of South Korea created history this year. He put forth a winning performance in the men’s skeleton to win not only his country’s first medal in skeleton, but its first gold medal too. The fourth run was a victory lap of sorts, and Yun delivered again with another flawless run to become a national hero. He set his third course record of the competition. In the end, Yun had the four fastest runs of the competition, a shocking feat. Sung-Bin's performance was one for the ages. It wasn’t that his competitors had flaws, it was that he was ver good. He didn’t look like an athlete bringing his country it's first medal, but he looked like a legend of the sport.

Yung Sung-Bin does not have his official page on Instagram and hence access to his photos can be tough. There are a few photos of him on Instagram that are uploaded by his fans.