Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Crushed by the orange
.jpg?w=728)
Speed skater Lee Seung-hoon drops his head after finishing 4th in the men’s 10,000-meter final at the Sochi Winter Olympics at the Adler Arena Skating Center, Wednesday (KST). / AP-Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Vancouver star finishes behind Dutch skating trio, again
By Jung Min-ho
Vancouver Olympic gold medalist Lee Seung-hoon failed to defend his speed skating title in the men’s 10,000-meter
event on Wednesday (KST), finishing fourth, and was left to witness a clean sweep by the Netherlands.
Sven Kramer, who lost a gold medal after being disqualified despite the fastest time in Vancouver, raced even faster this time with a time of 12:49.02 but still came short of the mighty champion. Vancouver Olympic bronze medalist Bob de Jong won the bronze again, finishing in 13:07.19.
“I almost got it,” Lee said. Despite the disappointing result, he said, “The race was better than the 5,000 meters. I tried my best. There is no regret.”
Lee, paired with Kramer, competed next to each other in the seventh. Lee went ahead of Kramer in the beginning and started running out of gas after 10 laps. Lee’s final four laps all took more than 33 seconds, a significant reduction of speed compared with initial laps that took less than 30 seconds.
Kim Kwang-jin performs during the men’s ski halfpipe qualification round at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, Tuesday. / AP-Yonhap
“My plan was to step it up after the first 5,000 meters,” Lee said. “I think I failed to keep my pace. I couldn’t control it as I wanted.”
“I think the most important thing is to maintain the pace to the finish line. It takes a lot of stamina.”
On his way to win his first Olympic gold medal, Bergsma smashed Lee’s previous Olympic record of 12:58.55 by a whopping 14.1 seconds, leading the fourth Dutch sweep of the speed skating podium in Sochi.
“I’m still dazed,” Bergsma was quoted as saying to AP. “I was doing 29-second laps and was able to hold on to those late in the race ... We fought really hard for this.”
In the race, De Jong, 37, also became the oldest male speed skater to win a medal in 86 years and the first man to win at least one medal in the sport at four different Winter Games.
Lee last week finished 12th in the 5,000 meters last week, in which he won the silver in Vancouver. Kramer won the event while breaking his own Olympic record, becoming only the second man in history to win back-to-back 5,000-meter golds, and his compatriots Jan Blokhuijsen and Bergsma finished second and third, respectively.
Lee will wrap up his events in Sochi in the team pursuit, which starts at 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
“I’m confident in the event, which is also fun,” Lee said. “I believe we will be able to do well and win a medal.”
Ski halfpipe, ladies’ bobsleigh
Kim Kwang-jin failed to reach the final in the men’s ski halfpipe after finishing 25th among 28 in Heat 1 with 45.40 points, and 19th in Heat 2 with 34.40 points at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center, Tuesday (KST).
David Wise of the United States became the first gold medalist in the inaugural competition at the Olympics.
The Korean female bobsleigh team of Kim Sun-ok and Shin Mi-hwa was the slowest in their first two races on Wednesday (KST) among the 19 pairs with a time of 2:00.11.
Ahead of the final two races on Thursday, the U.S. team of Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams is leading the pack with a time of 1:54.89.