Dejected Lee regroups for 10,000 meters

By Kim Tong-hyung

Speed-skater Lee Seung-hoon had aimed to win Korea’s first medal in the Sochi Olympics. But after his disappointing 12th-place finish in the men’s 5,000 meters, a significant drop-off from his silver-medal winning performance four years ago in Vancouver, the 26-year-old appeared shaken and dejected as he regrouped himself for the 10,000 meters competition on Feb. 18.

The race at the Adler Arena Skating Center on Saturday (KST) doubled as a celebration of one of the greatest speed skaters of this generation.

Sven Kramer of the Netherlands became only the second man in history to win back-to-back 5,000-meter golds and did this in dominating fashion, breaking his own Olympic record clocking six minutes and 10.76 seconds. His compatriots Jan Blokhuijsen and Jorrit Bergsma collected the silver and bronze, respectively, to make it a clean sweep for the Dutch.

No one with an objective mind would have predicted a gold medal for Lee. Kramer winning the 5,000 meters was probably as close to a foregone conclusion there was in this Olympics as he went through the 2013-14 season unbeaten in 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and team pursuit before arriving in Sochi.

At the same time, no one would have expected Lee to miss the podium by that wide of a margin. Lee, who skated after Kramer, seemed to be thrown off by his rival’s virtuoso performance and failed to keep things close.

Lee’s strength as a skater has always been his stamina and speed in the later laps. At the Adler Center, Lee got off to a faster start than he normally does, but faded just as quickly in the final three laps. His time of six minutes and 25.61 seconds was nearly 15 seconds off Kramer’s time.

Lee’s coaches told reporters they believed he allowed Kramer to get into his head, which disrupted the way he managed the race.

Lee, usually likable and articulate in interviews, wasn’t in a mood to talk. He was slow to leave the arena and had nothing to say to reporters besides ``I am sorry (to disappoint).’’

``I think it’s obvious that he failed to manage the mental side of the game. (Even aside of Kramer), the skaters who he had beaten in other international events were performing well with great times and Lee let the pressure get to him,’’ said Kim Kwan-kyu, vice president of the Korea Skating Union who is with the coaching staff at Sochi.

``I think if Lee stuck to his own game plan, he would have given himself a shot at a medal. I think it’s best to take the 5,000-meter as a tune-up for the 10,000 meters and I am confident he can do better there.’’

Lee will face Kramer and the other Dutch standouts in the men’s 10,000-meter final next week, followed by the team pursuit on Feb. 22.

Lee won the 10,000-meter gold in Vancouver, but it came with an asterisk. Kramer finished a full four seconds faster than him, but was disqualified for changing lanes incorrectly.

Ahead of the Sochi Games, Lee said he was eager to defeat Kramer on his own merit. But on Saturday, he seemed to be thoroughly overwhelmed.