South Korea's Olympic gold winning skeleton slider Yun Sung-bin on Monday received a sports award from his country for his sporting excellence.

Yun, who won gold in the men's skeleton at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, was honored by South Korea's sports ministry with seven other recipients at the 56th Korea Sports Awards in Seoul. The 24-year-old won the presidential honor in the sports competition category. 

Yun became the first Asian to win a gold medal in skeleton at the Winter Olympics. He is also the first South Korean to collect a Winter Olympic medal in sliding sports.

The annual sports awards, which were created in 1963, honor those who have contributed to sports development and promotion. The recipients are awarded on the National Day of Sports, which falls on Oct. 15.

Yun's head coach Lee Yong, who also guided South Korea to collect silver in the men's four-man bobsleigh at PyeongChang 2018, won the presidential honor in the coaching category. Han Min-su, who was captain of the South Korean sledge hockey team that won bronze at the PyeongChang Paralympics, won the award for sports for the disabled.

The presidential awards are given in seven different areas, including research, promotion and lifetime achievements.

Apart from the sports award, South Korean taekwondo fighter Lee Dae-hoon received the highest decoration in the nation's Order of Sport Merit. Lee is the first taekwondo practitioner to win gold in three straight Asian Games.

Lee was one of the 44 awardees to win government recognition this year. He was joined by South Korean shooters Lee Dae-myung and Hong Seong-hwan, as well as archery coach Yang Chang-hoon and taekwondo coach Park Jong-man.

The sports ministry also awarded the Cheongryong Medal (or "blue dragon medal" in Korean) to taekwondo master Rhee Jhoon-goo, who passed away in April this year. Rhee was considered the "father of American taekwondo" for introducing the South Korean martial art to the United States. (Yonhap)