By Baek Byung-yeul
Speed skater Lee Seung-hoon took his first world speed skating title at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Kolomna, Russia, on Sunday (KST).
The title granted the 27-year-old Olympic medalist a strong candidacy for another gold medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Finishing the race in 7 minutes, 18.27 seconds to beat defending champion Arjan Stroetinga of the Netherlands by 0.06 seconds, Lee became the first Korean skater to win a world title in a race other than the 500 meter.
Alexis Contin of France finished third with a time of 7 minutes, 18.41 seconds.
The mass-start race puts 24 skaters on the track for 16 laps, all at once. It will be held as an official Olympic event at the 2018 Winter Games, which will take place in PyeongChang County, Gangwon Province.
In the race, Lee remained in fourth place until the last lap. But in the final lap the short track skater-turned-speed skater sprinted past the competition, crossing the finish line in first place.
Lee has been focusing on team pursuit and mass-start events lately, after winning a gold medal in the men’s 10,000 meter at the 2010 Olympics. He was the overall ISU World Cup mass start champion in the 2014-2015 season.
In the women’s mass start, Kim Bo-reum won silver with the time of 8 minutes, 17.66 seconds while Park Do-young came in 12th. Canada’s Ivanie Blondin claimed the title with the time of 8 minutes, 17.53 seconds and Japan’s Miho Takagi took the bronze.
The ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Kolomna concluded with the mass-start event and Korean skaters wrapped up the world championships with two golds (Lee Seung-hoon’s gold in the mass start and Lee Sang-hwa’s gold in the women’s 500-meter speed skating race on Saturday) and one silver.
Along with the alpine skiing nations team event, snowboard big air and mixed doubles curling, speed skating mass start is among four new competitions added to the Winter Olympics program for 2018.
The biggest difference with other speed skating events is that the mass start has no designated lanes. As required in short track speed skating, some physical contact between skaters and cornering strategies are essential to win.