By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter
Some of the speedskating races were for men, while others were for women. Some were for individuals, while others were relays. Some were shorter distances, while others were longer.
There were a variety of events on Saturday at the International Skating Union (ISU) short-track World Cup circuit meet in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
But one thing most of the races had in common was that they featured strong performances by South Korean skaters.
During the day's four finals, South Koreans earned three gold medals and three silvers. Koreans put forth solid performances in some of the day's preliminary competitions as well.
One of Korea's most impressive showings came in the men's 1,500 meters, where the top three placers were all Koreans. Lee Ho-suk won the gold with a time of 2 minutes, 20.739 seconds, while Song Kyung-taek placed second with a 2:20.840 and Ahn Hyun-soo third with a 2:21.218.
South Korea captured another men's gold, when Sung Si-bak won the 500 meters in 42.394 seconds, edging out runner-up Charles Hamelin of Canada by less than a second.
In the women's 1,500 meters, South Korea's Jung Eun-ju took first in 2:20.530, while compatriot Jin Sun-yu finished second in 2:20.814.
South Korea's Park Seung-hi earned silver in the women's 500 meters with a time of 45.117 seconds, which was fractions of a second slower than the winner, Wang Meng of China.
The South Korean men's 5,000-meter relay clocked the fastest time of the semifinals with a 6:57.628, while the Korean women's 3,000-meter relay had the second-fastest time of its semifinals with a 4:21.485. Both squads will compete in finals on Sunday.
The Heerenveen meet is the third stop on the ISU World Cup circuit, which features a series of competitions throughout the world. The next meet in the series will start Friday in Torino, Italy.