Shim, Lim take gold at Youth Olympics
By Cho Mu-hyun
Korean short track skaters Shim Suk-hee and Lim Hyo-jun both won gold at the Winter Youth Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria on Thursday (KST).
Shim was victorious in the women’s 1,000 meters and Lim triumphed at the same distance in the men’s competition with compatriot Yoon Su-min taking silver.
Shim clocked in at 1 minute 31.661 seconds, ahead of second-place Xu Aili of China in 1:33.351 and Japan’s Sumire Kikuchi in third in 1:34.241.
She took the lead with four laps remaining and was 10 meters ahead of Xu when she crossed the finish line.
Teammate Park Jung-hyun looked set for silver but fell on the final lap.
The two were first and second in the quarter and semifinals and looked set for a repeat performance in the final.
“I am happy that the result reflected my hard training,” Shim said afterwards. But the 15-year-old looked far from happy.
“I heard (someone) fall behind me but had no idea it was Jung-hyun. She had a difficult time through the long training process, and
we didn’t win the medal together,”she said while choking back tears.
In the men’s 1,000-meters that followed, Lim and Yoon’s one-two finish put the incident behind the Korean squad.
China’s Xu Hongzhi and Japan’s Kei Saito set the early pace with Lim and Yoon following close behind, waiting for the right moment to pounce.
The two Koreans narrowed the gap on the final lap, simultaneously sprinting past Xu and Saito, Yoon overtaking from the outside and Lim bursting through on the inside, a maneuver that brought gasps from the spectators. Lim finished with a time of 1:29:284 and Yoon in 1:29:428. Xu took the bronze in 1:29:576.
“It’s impossible to explain the excitement you feel the moment you come in first,” Lim said after the race, unable to conceal his joy. “I want to compete in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and win gold in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.”
He added that Kwak Yoon-gy, who competed with the national team at the Vancouver Olympic, was his main influence and idol. The two are similar in style, both relying on their sprinting and usually winning by coming from behind.
Runner-up Yoon was also thrilled, saying “I am glad that Korean athletes won first and second.”
Coach Han Il-chung was known to be concerned for his skaters prior to the match, noting the skills of the Chinese skaters, but the teenagers surpassed all expectations.
Korea now has a total of four golds, two silvers and one bronze. Speed skater Jang Mi won the women’s 500 meters on Sunday and 1,500 meters on Monday, while Jang Su-ji came third in Wednesday’s women’s 3,000. The number of medals has already far exceeded the two golds the coaching staff predicted for the inaugural Winter Youth Games.