At the previous Olympics in Beijing four years ago, the country finished 14th, winning two gold, five silver, and two bronze medals. Its most recent top-10 finish came at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, where it placed seventh overall with five gold, eight silver, and four bronze medals.
The opening ceremony of the quadrennial sporting event is slated for Friday in Milan, marking a return to the European country for the first time in about two decades since the 2006 Turin Games.
South Korea will field 71 athletes in snowboarding, bobsleigh, speed skating, short-track skating, and figure skating.
The country's first medal could come from snowboarding, where Lee Sang-ho, the Pyeongchang silver medalist who is considered a dark horse contender, will compete in men's parallel giant slalom on Sunday.
But the country might have to wait a few days for its first gold medal, which could come on Feb. 10, when South Korea's ace short-track speed skaters compete in the mixed 2,000-meter relay.
Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan, who finished fifth at the Beijing Games, has his sights set on becoming the first South Korean man to win an Olympic medal in the sport.
On Feb. 16, speed skating favorites Kim Min-sun and Lee Na-hyun will race in the women's 500 meters.
Meanwhile, the two-week-long Olympics on snow and ice will run until Feb. 22, bringing together around 3,500 athletes from over 90 countries to compete for 116 medals across 16 disciplines.
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