Lee praised Kim's silver-medal finish in the men's parallel giant slalom, saying the athlete spent "years of training for races decided by fractions of a second, perfecting his technique and equipment on harsh snow," and finally made the Olympic podium on his fourth attempt since the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Lee said the medal was meaningful as South Korea's 400th Olympic medal and the second silver in snow events, demonstrating the country's strength beyond ice sports.
He added Kim's medal will boost the South Korean team's confidence, adding that he will cheer for athletes through the final day of the Olympics which will run until Feb. 22 and feature around 3,500 athletes from over 90 countries competing for 116 medals across 16 disciplines.
The previous day, the 37-year-old won silver, narrowly losing the final to Austria's Benjamin Karl by just 0.19 seconds after surprisingly advancing to the knockout round by upsetting world No. 1 and favorite Roland Fischnaller of Italy in the quarterfinals.
It was the country's first Olympic medal in a snow event in eight years and only its second ever, after Lee Sang-ho's silver-medal finish at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
The medal was especially precious as it was the late bloomer's first in roughly 12 years, since he first competed as part of South Korea's first Olympic snowboarding team at Sochi.
Sunday's medal was a milestone for South Korea, as it was the country's 80th Winter Olympic medal and 400th Olympic medal overall including 320 from the Summer Games.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.