S. Korea wins two golds in int'l skating championship

Host South Korea captured two gold medals at the ongoing International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Saturday.

Former Olympic champion Shim Suk-hee won the women's 1,500m final at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, 230 kilometers east of Seoul. Lee Jung-su, a double Olympic gold medalist in 2010, followed suit with the men's 1,500m gold.

The World Cup is an Olympic test event for the new arena, which will host short track at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. Gangneung is one of the sub-hosts of the Olympics and will also stage figure skating, speed skating and hockey.

Shim crossed the line in 2:32.346, with two Canadians, Marianne St-Gelais (2:32.407) and Kim Boutin (2:32.457) rounding out the top three.

With Saturday's victory, Shim remains unbeaten in the 1,500m at four World Cups this season. She's the world No. 1 in that distance.

The 19-year-old, a relay gold medalist at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, is considered a strong contender for multiple titles at the 2018 Olympics.

Shim started the 13 1/2-lap race in the middle of the pack, and then made a move to first place with eight laps to go.

Boutin then charged out in front again, with Guo also finding herself in the lead briefly. Then Shim put on a burst of speed on the outside with five laps remaining. She then narrowly edged out St-Gelais for the gold.

Later Saturday, Lee captured his second straight World Cup gold in the 1,500m.

With the time of 2:14.317, Lee defeated Sjinke Knegt of the Netherlands (2:14.373) and Semen Elistratov of Russia (2:14.423) for the title.

Lee was well back of the group early, with fellow South Korean, Sin Da-woon, and Ruslan Zakharov of Russia in the lead.

Sin took the lead briefly with five laps remaining, and Lee was still in fifth place. American John-Henry Krueger moved to the lead with three to go, and then Lee made a furious charge to first place. The South Korean then hung on for the host nation's second gold of the day.

In the women's 1,000m, Choi Min-jeong narrowly missed out on her third gold of this year's World Cup series, finishing second to Elise Christie of Britain.

Choi hung back for most of the nine-lap race, before charging to second place with three laps to go. It was a two-horse race to the finish between Christie and Choi over the final stretch, and the South Korean couldn't quite catch up.

Christie finished in 1:29.339, with Choi in 1:29.432. Marie-Eve Drolet of Canada took the bronze in 1:30.696.

South Korea was shut out of a medal in the men's 1,000m, despite having three skaters in the final.

Hong Kyung-hwan battled Canadian Pascal Dion for the lead early, before ending up in fifth place. Han Seung-soo was fourth and Lim Kyoung-won, who fell in the final lap, ended dead last in sixth.

Nurbergen Zhumagaziyev of Kazakhstan beat out Dion and another Canadian, Patrick Duffy, for the title.

The men's 1,500m final, and the men's and the women's 1,000m finals will take place later Saturday. The World Cup will wrap up Sunday with the second 1,000m finals for both men and women, 500m finals and the relay finals. (Yonhap)