Speed skater Kim Min-seok wins men's 1,500m bronze for S. Korea's 1st medal in Beijing
Silver Medallist Thomas Krol of the Netherlands, Gold Medallist Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands and Bronze Medallist Kim Minseok of South Korea celebrate on the podium during the flower ceremony. Reuters-Yonhap
Speed skater Kim Min-seok / Yonhap
Speed skater Kim Min-seok brought South Korea its first medal of Beijing 2022 on Tuesday, grabbing bronze for his second consecutive Olympics.
Kim finished the men's 1,500m race at the National Speed Skating Oval in 1:44.24, 1.03 seconds back of the champion, Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands.
Another Dutch skater, Thomas Krol, took the silver medal in 1:43.55.
At PyeongChang 2018, Kim also captured the bronze medal to become the first Asian to reach the Olympic podium in the men's 1,500m.
In speed skating, athletes compete in pairs, with the fastest time winning. In Tuesday's 1,500m race, there were 14 pairs, with Peter Michael of New Zealand skating alone to begin the competition.
Kim skated in the 11th pair next to Nuis, the world record holder with 1:40.17 and the 2018 Olympic champion. In the pair immediately ahead of them, Krol had set an Olympic record, and Nuis broke that by 0.34 second. Kim kept pace with Nuis for the most part and put up a strong time with eight skaters left. (Yonhap)