OT - South Korea and ice... I don't get it.

It is cold enough. But indoor ice rinks aren't really linked to outside temps. And notice that the figure skating gold medalist trained in Toronto. I doubt you will see a strong program there in downhill or nordic skiing. Although, I guess stranger things have happened.

Being able to do a double lutz before kindergarten is the only way to avoid all of the extra homework your Korean mom will give you.

Sometimes they take it too far though.

Have you checked the latitude? Korea is northeast (mostly east) of Japan, and they held a Winter Olympics in Japan. The Frozen Chosin refers to American (excuse me, "United Nations") troops freezing to death during the Korean War. Never been, but South Korea is plenty cold. It's sort of the Asian version of Finland: very cold, internationally benign, strong in technical fields, most people live in a few dense cities, and sharing a border with a hostile neighbor. The RoK is ridiculously cold...in fact I've heard it speculated that the high performance of South Korean students across the world is partially due to the fact there's nothing much to do in the cold months except study.

I have no idea. I always thought the whole of South Korea was too busy playing StarCraft to do anything else. On a completely related note, they'll be awful in the next Summer *and* Winter Olympic games.

I don't think it's any more unusual than the Netherlands (which has milder winters than Korea) being fanatical about speed skating. Winter sports are part of the local culture.

South Korea is an emerging economic power (the difference between the South and North are drastic) that is trying to make it's splash on the world stage, up to and including trying to get the Olympics in their own country. Other countries don't think of it as we do...not so much a beat their chest we're the best athletes in the world mentality, but a political reflection of their country and perception. Even western countries...look at Canada's disappointment in how they are doing in their home Olympics, and their obsession with their perception. (Americans, of course, don't care about how others see them...they just care about winning and losing). So they have money, and interest, in succeeding. Why those sports? Because they are sports based on speed, skill, and not really size or strength. And say what you will, you're not finding a large number of Korean Offensive Linemen. Heck, even the short track is more based on quickness than out and out speed. In many of the other events, that matters. They call Mancuso a short skier, even though she's a pretty normal 5'5". Size, length, stride matter. There's a reason football players have acted as the drive man in a bobsled run, and can ride along. They're strong, and they weight enough to make you go faster. The greatest Luger of all time, George Hackel, had a body like a stuffed sausage. His weight helped him. It's the same way that 4 of the top 5 figure skaters in the women's competition were Asian (1 Korean, 2 Japanese, and 1 American of Asian decent). Small, quick, skilled matters. Just like Japan. China has more success in the Olympics because a. they have a billion plus people, so you can have Yao Ming type variances more readily available b. say what you will, but a number of their athletes in fields are using steroids (some of their women swimmers have thicker mustaches than I do....and yes, we have track and fielders that are doing the same thing) and c. a lot of these Asian countries don't act like America, and let people say "I really like skiing...I'm going to be a skier"; they say "we've tested you, and you have the body type/skills to be a speed skater...you are a speed skater...go to our training camp when you hit 4". That is wayyyyyyy more so in a less free country like China, but it's a lot more by type and need, rather than personal interest in countries like Japan and Korea (just look at the weight on the figure skater's shoulders...in the US, you fail and man, you don't become America's darling, and you lose a lot of endorsements. In Korea, she was going to let down a WHOLE NATION. You could see her ice queen presence shatter after she had done it...it was like you could physically see the weight lifted off her shoulders). So, in summary, country with money with a desire to exceed and show itself off, picking sports it think it can succeed at (and that it can), guiding them towards that.

haven't you ever seen M.A.S.H.? it gets plenty cold there. TV told me so.

its quite cold in the winter. plenty of snow, etc. you will find that koreans are absolutely fanatic about sports especially when it comes to their national teams. for example, they really get behind their soccer team to the extent that europeans do, and their support for olympic athletes is incredible. but weather is only a prerequisite for winter olympic success. they just have good development programs. and the short track skating success has been a snowball effect through the years.