On the verge of greatness
Lee Sang-hwa
Lee Sang-hwa continues surge with speed-skating World Cup title
By Kim Tong-hyung
Kim Yu-na, Korea’s figure-skating megastar, officially has competition for her ``Queen of Ice’’ nickname.
Olympic speed-skating champion Lee Sang-hwa has been dominating the women’s sprint competition with authority since her breakthrough in Vancouver. The 24-year-old continued her rapid ascent Sunday by winning the women’s 500 meters event at the World Cup in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, to clinch the season discipline title.
Lee won the race with a time of 37.77 seconds, edging out Wang Beixing of China by one hundredth of a second. The victory gave her 150 World Cup points for a season total of 1,055, the best performance of any 500-meter skater this season. She was the first Korean female skater to win a World Cup season title in any distance.
Wang ended the season third in the standings, behind Jenny Wolf of Germany, who finished fourth in the 500-meter event.
The World Cup triumph adds to Lee’s extending list of accomplishments, including an Olympic gold and multiple world championship titles. But it could be said that the highlight of her career so far came in January when she set a 500-meter world record at a World Cup event in Calgary, Alberta.
Lee's time of 36.80 seconds lowered the mark of 36.94 set by China's Yu Jing at the world sprint championships on the same oval about a year earlier and made her the first Korean female skater to break a world record at any level.
Barring an injury or career-altering slump, it looks as if it would be a major upset if anyone other than Lee wins the 500-meter title at next year’s Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
Lee is also considered a threat to medal in the 1,000-meter competition. In the world championships at Salt Lake City two weeks after the Calgary event, Lee set consecutive national records in her 1,000-meter appearances. While she has never finished better than fifth in international competitions, her pace of improvement in recent months allows for higher expectations.
``Lee’s growth as an athlete has been so quick it’s scary. It’s impossible to predict how good she really can be,’’ said Kim Kwan-kyu, vice president of the Korea Skating Union, who coached Lee for the Vancouver Games.
``Heading into Vancouver, a third-place finish for Lee in 500 meters seemed like a reasonable goal. She ended up winning the gold anyway. Some wondered whether Lee is a fluke, but as everyone can see now, she then was just scratching the surface of her immense potential.’’
In other skating news, Korea’s Sin Da-woon was crowned the men’s overall champion at the Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sunday. Sin earned 89 total points by winning two races and finishing second in another at the annual event. His compatriot Kim Yun-jae scored 55 points to finish second in the overall standings.
Sin won the men's 1,000 meters on Sunday with a time of 1:30.374, beating out Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands. This was Sin's second title of this year's world championships, after his 1,500-meter gold medal on Friday. Later Sunday, Sin finished second in the 3,000-meter final behind Kim.