Lee ends final Olympics on mixed note
Lee Kyou-hyuk competes in the men’s 1,000-meter speed skating event at the Adler Arena Skating Center on Wednesday. / Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Lee waves to the crowd after finishing 21st in the final race of his career. / Yonhap
Speed skater Lee Kyou-hyuk ended his illustrious career without an Olympic medal. But there are only a few Olympic stories that are greater than his.
Appearing in his sixth Olympics, the 35-year-old competed in the men’s 1,000-meter event at the Adler Arena in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday (KST), and finished with a time of 1 minute and 10.049 seconds, which was good enough for a 21st-place finish in a field of 40.
Lee had already declared he would retire after the race. After crossing the finish line, Lee took a moment to gather his breath before circling the rink and waving to spectators for the final time in his 22-year career.
Lee had been one of the best speed skaters of his generation, a winner of multiple world championships and a former world record holder in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters. However, he had never managed to leverage this dominance into Olympic success.
The Sochi Olympics come 20 years after Lee’s first Olympic appearance in the 1994 Lillehammer Games. But although his athletic abilities were in decline, Lee’s aspirations remained intact.
``I have always worked hard to realize my dream. And my dream has stayed the same for 20 years ― winning an Olympic gold medal,’’ he said ahead of the Sochi Games.
But after finishing the last race of his career, Lee sounded more grateful than bitter.
``The Olympics was just an excuse. I just wanted to skate for the one last time. I have loved skating with all my heart throughout my career,’’ he told Korean reporters.
It wasn’t until the 2010 Vancouver Games that Korea started producing medalists in speed skating, thanks to the emergence of Lee Sang-hwa, Mo Tae-bum and Lee Seung-hoon. Vancouver was also where the older Lee came closest to an Olympic medal, finishing fourth in the 1,000 meters with 1:09.37.
“I have been able to keep pushing myself up until this point and learned so much because I have not won a medal at the Olympics,” he said.
“My career ended with my dreams unachieved, but the Olympics have made me mature.”
Among his six Olympics, Lee said, the Sochi event will be most memorable for support of many fans.
“I have seen many things here, and I will try to remember those as long as possible,” Lee said. “At some moments, I wanted a medal so much, but in the end, the fact that I came here as a skater brought me real joy.”
His passion and effort for speed skating has paid off handsomely, just not at the Olympics.
Lee is one of only four men to have won the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships four times in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011. He also won the 500-meter world title at the 2011 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Inzell, Germany.
In the process, he set two world records in the 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters with 1:10.42 in 1997 and 1:45.20 in 2001 respectively. The four-time Asian Winter Games gold medalist also won numerous Korea’s national titles.
Lee never just competed in the Olympics for the sake of participation. He truly believed he had a shot for the top until the final race.
Lee said there will be no more Olympics for him because he knows now he cannot race faster than his best. “I don’t want to compete again without a clear objective,” Lee noted.
When asked about his plan, Lee said he would like to train athletes for the PyeongChang Olympics in his home country four years from now.
Born into a family that is fond of skating ― his mother was a figure skater and his father was a speed skater on the national team ― Lee’s dream of life was to win an Olympic gold medal. According to his mother, he was afraid of being forgotten if he did not win one.
Lee fought hard to dispel that fear. And many were lucky to witness his athletic greatness.