Korea wins gold in women's 3,000m short track relay
Korea's female speed skaters scream in joy after winning a gold medal in the 3000-meter short track relay at the Gangneung Ice Arena, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Korea's female speed skaters wave to fans as they celebrate the victory. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Choi Min-jeong crosses the finish line. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Korea defended its women’s 3,000-meter short track relay title at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Tuesday.
The Korean squad, comprised of Shim Suk-hee, Choi Min-jeong, Kim Ye-jin and Kim A-lang, came in first in the 27-lap race with a time of four minutes and 07.361 seconds at the Gangneung Ice Arena.
This was the fourth gold for the host country at PyeongChang and sixth in the event. Italy won silver and the Netherlands, who set a world record in the B final, gained bronze, after China and Canada were penalized. According to Olympic rules, the winning team in the B final receives the bronze if two of the four teams are disqualified.
Korea solidified its hegemonic status in the event. The country was strongly favored to win the relay event as the team has won five of seven in previous Olympics, with Canada and China winning gold one time apiece in 1992 and 2010.
Korea qualified for final A after clocking the fastest time of 4:06.387 in the first heat, Feb. 10. Teams advancing to Final A compete for medals while teams in Final B decide their placement.
Claiming her first gold at the PyeongChang Olympics, Shim proved she won’t be defeated by her heartbreaking mishaps.
The PyeongChang Games has been an eventful competition for Shim. The 21-year-old rose to stardom in the 2014 Sochi Olympics after claiming gold in the relay, silver and one bronze medal respectively at the age of 17, but had a thorny path while preparing for the PyeongChang Olympics.
In January, she left the training center in protest against assaults by her coach. After the unsavory incident, the Korean Skating Union suspended the coach immediately and Shim resumed her training.
The Gangneung native wanted to entertain the home crowd in the 1,500m race, but failed to qualify for the semifinals after falling down in the heats.
Choi is also on course to win three gold medals at the PyeongChang Olympics. The 19-year-old, who already gained her first gold in the women’s 1,500m, Feb. 17, will hunt for a third in the women’s 1,000m race Thursday.
Koreans qualify for women’s 1,000m
Tuesday’s short track day began with the women’s 1,000m heats and three Koreans finished first to qualify for the quarterfinals, which will take place Thursday.
While only the first and second placed skaters from each heat qualify for the quarterfinals, Shim finished first in the first heat at 1:34.940, followed by Han Yutong of China who recorded 1:34.974.
In the second heat, Choi Min-jeong also finished first clocking 1:31.190 and Kim A-lang came in first with a time of 1:30.459 in the seventh heat.
Following the 1,000m event, Seo Yi-ra, Lim Hyo-jun and Hwang Dae-heon all qualified for the quarterfinals in the men’s 500m event.
In the third heat, Seo came in first clocking 40.438. Lim, who delivered the first gold medal to Korea after winning the men’s 1,500m, posted the fastest time of 40.418 in the fourth heat.
If Lim can grab one more gold medal, he could become the third male skater to win two gold medals in individual events in short track at a single Olympics, following Lee Jung-su and Russia’s Victor An.
In the seventh heat, Hwang kept his lead from the start and finished first clocking 40.758. Jong Kwang-bom of North Korea was disqualified after being penalized.
The 2014 Sochi Olympics silver medalist Wu Dajing of China also qualified after setting an Olympic record at 40.264. Wu, a strong gold medal hopeful in this event, has won 10 races at world championships and in the World Cup while no other skaters have won this event more than four times. The gold medal race will take place, Thursday.