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Staff Reporter
South Korean 1,000-meter gold medalist Lee Jung-su won his second gold medal and veteran Lee Ho-suk captured the silver in the men's 1,000 meters at the Vancouver Olympics, Sunday (KST).
The two Lees beat out Canadian brothers Charles and Francois Hamelin, and American short-track star Apolo Anton Ohno.
Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi also garnered silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the women's 1,500 meters.
With Korea adding four more medals, it now ranks fourth in the overall count with four golds, four silvers and one bronze. The country is on pace to break its previous best performance, which was sixth overall at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.
The atmosphere at the Pacific Coliseum was electric as the world's three short track powerhouses ― Korea, Canada and United States ― were the only countries fielding finalists in the men's 1,000-meter showdown.
During the first laps, the two Canadians were in front. But with only three laps remaining, the two Koreans made their move and took over first and second place.
On the women's side, it was expected that one of the three Koreans would win when 500-meter gold medalist China's Wang Meng failed to advance to the final due to disqualification.
But despite strong teamwork, the three Koreans, including Cho Ha-ri, couldn't stop Chinese star Yang Zhou. The world's No. 1 set an Olympic record with a time of 2:16.993, giving China its second gold of the Olympics in the short track event.
At the Richmond Olympic Oval venue, Korea's first long-track speed skating gold medalist Mo Tae-bum's quest for another medal came up short in the men's 1,500-meter event when he finished fifth.
Meanwhile, Korean ski jumpers Kim Hyun-ki and Choi Heung-chul, having advanced to the second round in the men's large hill competition at Whistler Olympic Park, failed to make it to the third and finished 42nd and 49th, respectively.
South Korean skaters have been leaving their mark in Vancouver and can still add more to their running tally of medals.
Men's 5,000-meter silver medalist Lee Seung-hoon will compete in the 10,000-meter event Wednesday and the Korean women's team will challenge for gold in the 3,000-meter relay in short track Thursday.
The Korean men's short track team will go for two more golds, in the 500 meters and 5,000-meter relay, in a bid to sweep the short-track events, Saturday (KST).
yc@koreatimes.co.kr
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