By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Korean Sung Si-bak and American Apolo Anton Ohno are among the biggest names participating in the International Skating Union (ISU) World Short Track Speedskating Championships starting Friday in Gangneung, Gangwon Province.
The three-day event will feature 238 athletes from 32 countries competing at the Gangneung Indoor Ice Rink in the last ISU competition of the 2007-08 season.
South Korea, a perennial powerhouse in the sport, is fielding arguably the strongest team in the men's competition, despite the void left by Olympic champion Ahn Hyun-soo, who is recovering from knee surgery.
The absence of Jin Sun-yu, out with an ankle injury, looms larger on the Korean women's squad, which his placing its hopes on teenage prospect Yang Shin-yang and 20-year-old Jung Eun-ju.
Sung, who won the men's 500 meters at the ISU World Cup in Utah, U.S., last month, is padding his reputation as the country's top skater next to Ahn. Lee Seung-hoon, who won the 1,500-meter event in Utah, and Lee Ho-suk are also favorites to win golds.
Challenging the Koreans would be Ohno, the 25-year-old Seattle native who is expected to contend in the 500-meter and 1,500-meter races. Competing in South Korea would have been a dreadful thought for Ohno just years ago, when his controversial 1,500-meter gold in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics caused an outcry here, after he was awarded the medal by successfully protesting that South Korean Kim Dong-sung, who won the race, illegally blocked him.
However, with the emotions of 2002 fading and few memories of Kim, who is now anonymous after a quick retirement and a failed signing career, Ohno has now become somewhat of a celebrity figure in Korea.