Ahn Hyun-soo |
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Five-time defending short track speedskating world champion Ahn Hyun-soo has injured his left knee, finishing his 2007-2008 season.
The Korea Skating Union (KSU) announced Wednesday that the 22-year-old, a Turin Olympic gold medallist, collided with a fence during national team training at the Korea Training Center in Taeneung and he was sent to a hospital and diagnosed with a knee fracture.
As a result of the sudden injury, Ahn will miss the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track fifth and sixth series, scheduled on Feb. 1 and 8 in Quebec City and Salt Lake City, respectively.
Plus, he will not compete in the World Short Track Speedskating Team Championships in Harbin, China, on March 15-16.
However, what's more frustrating is his gold stretch at the world championships will end at a meet on his home soil of Gangneung, Gangwon Province. Expected to rehabilitate for two or three months, Ahn will not be capable of skating before home fans.
The short track racer overcame a foot injury to achieve a five-peat at last year's world championship in Milan, Italy, becoming the first five-time world champion.
He is registered as the world record holder in the men's 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters and is one of only two Koreans to win three gold medals in a single Olympics after winning golds in the 1,000-meter, 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter relay races of the Turin Olympics. The other Korean to achieve that feat is short tracker Jin Sun-yu, who claimed three golds in the women's 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters along with 3,000-meter relay in Turin.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
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