Teenage speed skater Kim plans another surprise

Bronze medalist Kim Min-seok celebrates on the podium after the men's 1,500-meter speed skating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Teen speed skater Kim Min-seok wowed fans after winning a bronze medal in the men's 1,500-meter event of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at the Gangneung Oval, Tuesday.

The bronze medal was Korea's first-ever in the 1,500m event and Kim, at 18 years and 244 days old, became the second-youngest Olympic medal winner in men's speed skating following Alv Gjestvang of Norway who won bronze in the men's 500m in 1956 aged 18 years and 137 days.

In his Olympic debut, Kim posted 1 minute and 44.93 seconds to finish behind two Dutch skaters -- Kjeld Nuis and Patrick Roest who each clocked 1:44.01 and 1:44.86. Among 35 contestants, he could sit in third place after defeating fourth-placed Haralds Silovs of Latvia by 0.32 seconds in a head-to-head race.

Following his bronze medal win, Kim will skate in the men's team pursuit. The first day's program will include the quarterfinals and medal races, and classification races will take place on the second day. The four fastest teams from the quarterfinals will advance to the semifinals and the winning teams of the semifinals will compete in the gold medal race while the losers of the semifinals in the bronze medal race.

The team pursuit event is one of seven speed skating events. In the event, two teams of three athletes start out from opposite sides and skate eight laps. The winning team is decided by the time the third skater crosses the finish line.

Kim will team up with veteran skater Lee Seung-hoon, a three-time Olympic medalist, and Chung Jae-won, two years younger than Kim.

Led by Lee, Korea claimed a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Games. After finishing fifth in the men's 5,000m on Feb. 11, Lee said he is definitely counting on two teenage skaters, saying it is possible to win an Olympic medal again if the young skaters follow his lead.

Kim made his name known here by winning two gold medals in the men's 1,500m and the team pursuit at last year's Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, but no one, including himself, expected he would become a real medal contender on the Olympic stage.

"I didn't think I would get the medal, but I'm pretty happy I was able to. It's the biggest honor for an athlete to win an Olympic medal," Kim said.

Kim added he was encouraged during his 1,500m race thanks to a fervent home crowd. "I feel proud to perform in my home country. The home crowd also gave me a boost and support throughout the race. I felt sort of dissatisfied with my performance, but with the home crowd cheering me on I was able to do my best."

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