Ko beats Winter Games medalist

By Yoon Chul

A hearing-impaired skater, Ko Byung-wook, caused a shock on the ice by beating Vancouver Olympic gold medalist Lee Seung-hoon, Thursday.

In a time-trial at Taeneung ice rink, Ko marked the fastest time of 6:42.23 in the men’s 5000-meter event while Lee followed and crossed the finish line in 6:43.32.

The disabled 20-year-old skater is considered a hot prospect as he set a new Korean junior record of 6:31.45 in 2007.

When Lee moved to speed skating from short track and set three Korean records in a month, Ko lost out on a place on the national team.

At the Vancouver Olympics Lee grabbed silver in the men’s 5,000 meters in 6:16.95 seconds.

Ko’s recent victory gives him an opportunity in the selection process for the Winter Asian Games in Astana-Almaty.

The competition to decide the national squad for the 5,000 meters will be held on Dec. 20 and 21.