South Korea Triumphs in Taekwondo, Norway Wins Snow & Ice Sports

Submitted by nicolamira on 3 June, 2019 - 17:45
Da-bin Lee of South Korea kicking for gold in the women’s 73 kg category at the Taekwondo World Championships

GSN’s sporting month of May was dominated by two events, the Taekwondo World Championships and the men’s Ice Hockey World Championships,

both contributing to decisive shifts in the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations.

The Taekwondo World Championships awarded 76% of the GSN points on offer in May, and was won by South Korea ahead of China and Great Britain, enabling South Korea and Great Britain to top May’s monthly Global Cup ranking (see below).
 
GLOBAL CUP – MAY MONTHLY RANKING
Place
Country
Points
Points %
1
South Korea
226
7.9%
2
Great Britain
219
7.7%
3
Russia
215
7.6%
4
China
181
6.3%
5
United States
164
5.8%
6
Mexico
130
4.5%
7
Canada
128
4.5%
8
Brazil
124
4.4%
9
Finland
120
4.2%
10
Turkey
97
3.4%
11
Iran
96
3.4%
12
Spain
94
3.3%
13
Croatia
94
3.3%
14
Thailand
87
3.0%
15
Azerbaijan
77
2.7%
16
Germany
76
2.7%
17
Jordan
62
2.2%
18
Czech Republic
60
2.1%
19
Italy
58
2.0%
20
Kazakhstan
52
1.8%
21
Sweden
48
1.7%
22
France
43
1.5%
23
Cuba
40
1.4%
24
Greece
32
1.1%
25
Taiwan
28
1.0%
26
Australia
23
0.8%
27
Dominican Republic
22
0.8%
28
Belgium
22
0.8%
29
Argentina
22
0.8%
30
Portugal
22
0.8%
31
Egypt
20
0.7%
32
Moldova
20
0.7%
33
Ivory Coast
18
0.6%
34
Tunisia
18
0.6%
35
Latvia
17
0.6%
36
Morocco
15
0.5%
37
Serbia
15
0.5%
38
Switzerland
12
0.4%
39
Japan
10
0.4%
40
Philippines
10
0.4%
41
Uzbekistan
10
0.4%
42
Israel
10
0.4%
43
Poland
8
0.3%
44
Colombia
8
0.3%
45
South Africa
1
0.0%
46
Ireland
1
0.0%
Grand Total
2,847
100.0%
 
Finland won the men’s Ice Hockey World Championships - the last tournament valid for this year’s Snow & Ice Sports title - beating Canada in the final, with Russia third and the Czech Republic fourth. As a result, Norway has officially won the 2019 Snow & Ice Sports ranking for the second year in succession - the first country to ever record back-to-back wins in this sport group - ahead of Russia, Germany, the USA and Austria (see the full table below). Russia’s resurgence meant that two of last year’s podium finishers, the USA (2nd) and Canada (3rd) had to settle for a less rewarding 4th and 9th slot respectively.
 
SNOW & ICE SPORTS 2019 – FINAL RANKING
Place
Country
Points
Points %
1
Norway
1,245
12.3%
2
Russia
1,008
9.9%
3
Germany
809
8.0%
4
United States
735
7.2%
5
Austria
704
6.9%
6
Italy
661
6.5%
7
France
645
6.4%
8
Switzerland
639
6.3%
9
Canada
607
6.0%
10
Sweden
581
5.7%
11
Japan
371
3.7%
12
Finland
332
3.3%
13
Netherlands
308
3.0%
14
China
222
2.2%
15
South Korea
204
2.0%
16
Slovakia
183
1.8%
17
Czech Republic
183
1.8%
18
Slovenia
125
1.2%
19
Kazakhstan
78
0.8%
20
Ukraine
76
0.7%
21
Spain
70
0.7%
22
Australia
69
0.7%
23
Poland
63
0.6%
24
Latvia
53
0.5%
25
Great Britain
46
0.4%
26
Belarus
27
0.3%
27
Bulgaria
20
0.2%
28
New Zealand
20
0.2%
29
Estonia
18
0.2%
30
Liechtenstein
12
0.1%
31
Hungary
11
0.1%
32
Belgium
11
0.1%
33
Denmark
3
0.0%
34
Romania
2
0.0%
35
Andorra
2
0.0%
Grand Total
10,138
100.0%
 
In the year-to-date Global Cup ranking after May, as Norway still clings to a remarkable lead, Russia has now leapfrogged the USA in second place, with Germany fourth by a slim margin. It is the highest rung of the Global Cup ladder Russia has managed to reach in recent times, considering that nearly half of the sporting year is over and that the country’s best Global Cup finish in the last five years was runner-up in 2015, followed by a fifth place in 2016 and third place in 2017 and 2018. 
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