Shim continues search for 1st gold

By Jung Min-ho

This is shaping up to be a disappointing Olympics for Korea’s short-track speed skating team, but Shim Suk-hee and Co. will get an

opportunity to reverse the fortune in the women’s 3,000-meter relay on Tuesday.

Shim, who won the women’s 1,500-meter silver on Saturday, will anchor the Korean team that also features Park Seung-hi, Kim A-lang, Kong Sang-jeong and Cho Hae-ri.

If they fail to win the gold in the relay, the Sochi Olympics will likely be memorable for Korean short-track skaters’ first failure to win a gold medal in any event since the 1992 Albertville Games.

There will be men’s 500-meter and women’s 1,000-meter events on Saturday, but the women’s relay is considered the best chance for a win since Korea has won four gold medals in the event. In Vancouver, China snatched the gold, with Canada and the United States taking the silver and bronze respectively, as Korea was disqualified for impeding a Chinese skater.

Korean short-track skaters have won a dominating 19 gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals since short-track speed skating became a medal sport at the Albertville Games. But they have so far won just one silver medal in Sochi.

The men’s 1,000-meter event on Sunday highlighted the decline of the Korean short-track skating after bumbling Sin Da-woon was disqualified in the event where Viktor Ahn, the former Korean Olympic great, won the gold.

The men’s 1,000-meter had traditionally been a Korean forte. From 1992 to 2010, Korea took the gold in the event in every Olympics except the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

The women’s relay final will be held at 8:04 p.m.

Lee to again pit against Kramer

Lee Seung-hoon, who won a gold medal in the men’s 10,000-meter event four years ago, will compete in the event with the spirit of a challenger against Sven Kramer, who finished first only to be disqualified for skating in the wrong lane.

Lee, 26, aimed to win Korea’s first medal in Sochi but ended up with a disappointing 12th-place finish in the men’s 5,000 meters, far short of his silver-medal performance in Vancouver.

He is determined to redeem himself in the 10,000 meters, but Kramer will likely win another gold medal unless he makes the same mistake at the Adler Arena Skating Center.

The Dutch, who stayed unbeaten in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and team pursuit during the 2013-14 season, skipped the 1,500-meter event to focus on the 10,000 meters.

Since Lee came far short of a podium finish in the 5,000 meters, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to pull off a win against the mighty competitive Dutch skaters who won 16 of their 17 medals in speed skating.

The men’s 10,000-meter event will be held at 10 p.m.

Bobsleigh, ladies’ 1,500-meter speed skating

The bobsleigh team of Won Yoon-jong and Seo Young-woo finished 19th after their two races at Sanki Sliding Center, Monday (KST), while another compatriot team of Kim Dong-hyun and Jun Jung-lin finished 25th.

They will take their final two runs on Monday and Tuesday, and the combined time of the four races will determine the result.

Korean bobsleigh athletes will try to set the bar high for the 2018 PyeongChang Games after they made their Olympic bobsleigh debut in Vancouver, with just one team in the four-man event which finished 19th.

In the women’s 1,500-meter event, speed skaters Kim Bo-reum led the Korean group in 21st place out of 36, with a time of 1:59.78. Noh Seon-yeong ranked 29th at 2:01.07, and Yang Shin-young finished last at 2:04.13.

In curling, Korea thrashed the United States 11-2.