By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
South Korea proved that it is a winter sports powerhouse after clinching fifth place at the Vancouver Winter Olympics with six golds, six silvers and two bronze medals.
But the short trackers, who have generated 29 of all 31 medals including 17 gold medals before this year's Games, did not enjoy a repeat of their previous successes.
The men's short track team managed to grab two golds and two silvers. But the women's team only came away with one silver and two bronze medals.
Jin Sun-yu, who dominated with three gold medals in Turin, will attempt to rejoin the national team after overcoming an injury.
``I have pretty much pulled up my condition, and I have fully overcome my injury,'' Jin said in an interview with The Korea Times after the enthusiastic skater cooled off after running for 45 minutes.
``In the second world cup in the United States on January, 2008 while I was driving to the outside, a Chinese skater pushed me. I collapsed and my inner and outer ligaments surrounding my right ankle ruptured,'' Jin said.
``I should have taken a rest without skating. But I was about to reach my goal of grabbing the world championship title four years in a row,
``The doctor told me that I had to take a break and wear a cast, but I didn't.
``My enthusiasm made my ankle worse and I couldn't appear the world championship held in March,'' Jin explained.
``After surgery I injured my back, so I missed being a member of the national team for two seasons,''
``Now I am OK to train regularly,'' the 21-year-old said.
The former world No. 1 has been practicing at Mokdong ice rink twice a day.
``I come early at 6 a.m. and practice for three hours and have another session around 4 p.m.''
The Korean short trackers have often been subject to questionable decisions when having physical clashes with others.
``Skaters sometimes pull each other. As foreigners' posture is more unstable than Korean's I think they use their hands more.
``But some Koreans have also done this sometimes, though I am not good at it,'' Jin said with smile.
She also mentioned the decision in the women's 3,000-meter relay final at the Vancouver Olympics.
``Personally the 3,000-meter relay result was sad for me. We have dominated this event for a long time.
``The ruling is dependent on the location of the judges and the camera angles. That crash could have disqualified both Korea and China.
``I couldn't erase the idea what if it was not Korea but another country'' Jin explained.
``When we raced in the World Cup, if we skated on the inside and had contact with others we often suffered disqualification. So we usually skated on the outside of the rink to pass others.''
However the disappointing performance by the Korean women's team this time was not because of a collapse but due to the tremendous improvement of other countries, she said.
``Compared to the 2006 Games they have improved a lot, our team was not bad this time either.
``In Turin, lots of skaters failed to maintain top condition, which helped me earn three gold medals.
``In the women's 1,500 meters, while three Koreans advanced to the final, only one Chinese competitor, Zhou Yang was made it.
``Maybe Korea's strategy was to take the lead one by one to sweep all medals as well as blocking Zhou. But she recognized it and moved forward earlier,'' Jin said.
``I saw the event from the semifinals. Zhou didn't have a good race while the Koreans looked good. I expected gold but we failed.''
``Maybe as she was the sole Chinese finalist, she felt more pressure than the three Koreans,'' added Jin.
The young skater also commented on the present champion Wang Meng.
``I competed a lot with Wang, and she is good. In the past there was only Wang, as the other Chinese skaters weren't that good. But this time she supported Zhou and the other domestic athletes, which helped her a lot and helped generate good results,"
Korean fans were disappointed with the men's 1,500 meters for the team's failure to sweep all three medals when then second place Sung Si-bak and Lee Ho-suk in third crashed out of the race on the last lap.
``Lots of fans blamed Lee without knowing the truth. We are also athletes. Everyone wants first place. He moved inside a little more, but it was natural,'' Jin said.
Though South Korea collected fewer medals this time, it is still the most competitive short track team.
``We practiced very hard compared to others. While I was a member of the national team, we practiced four or five times in a day for about 10 hours in total,'' Jin explained.
``We are professional short trackers. Other countries' skaters usually have another job and enjoy competition. This is the only thing we do for a living. So our physical stamina is much higher than that of others'' she added.
``When we race in the final it is about mental stamina. Most skaters are exhausted before the last race.''
As Jin isn't a member of team Korea, she cannot use the National Training Center, which has perfect practice conditions, making it harder to train to the same level.
``My times are not improving as much as I want them to. I feel it is harder to hit the speeds I did in 2006.
``My speed, and stamina are not like before and I feel my body is heavier.
``Due to that reason I have a lot of stress,'' Jin said.
``My first goal is re-joining the national team. I am not thinking about the Sochi Olympics in 2014.''
The national team selection will take place from April 23 to 24.