Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa grabs silver at Sapporo

Japanese speed skater Nao Kodaira, left, is congratulated by Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea during the women’s 500-meter race of the Asian Winter Games at the Obihiro Forest Speed Skating Oval in Obihiro, Japan, Tuesday. Kodaira won the gold medal while Lee took the silver. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

South Korea added a silver medal in cross-country at the Asian Winter Games, Tuesday, as Lee Chae-won, 35, finished second in the women’s 10-kilometer free race.

At Shirahatayama Open Stadium in Sapporo, Japan, the 2011 Asian Games champion aimed to win her second consecutive gold in the event, but got the silver with a record of 30 minutes and 49.0 seconds, 24.4 seconds behind the gold medalist, Yuki Kobayashi of Japan. Yelena Kolomina of Kazakhstan took the bronze at 31:14.4.

Han Da-som ranked 12th at 33:35.7. Ju Hye-ri, who took the bronze in the women’s 1.4-kilometer sprint classic on Monday, finished 17th at 35:57.6.

During the race, Lee got off to a good start, leading the race at the 5-kilometer mark at 14:55.1, but allowed the Japanese skier to overtake her in the later half.

“I just wasn’t feeling great out there, with some left ankle and right leg issues,” Lee said. “I was trying to peak for this competition but it didn’t quite go the way I wanted. I even had some flu-like symptoms, and I was exhausted in the latter part of the race.”

Earlier this month, Lee ranked 12th in the skiathlon at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Cross-Country World Cup in PyeongChang, the best World Cup result by a Korean skier.

Lee will also compete at the women’s 5-kilometer classic on Thursday and the women’s 20-kilometer relay on Friday.

Meanwhile, cross-country skier Kim Magnus, who won the gold in the men’s 1.4-kilometer sprint classic on Monday, finished eighth in the men’s 15-kilometer free race.

In the women’s 1,500-meter speed skating race, three South Koreans competed but failed win any medal as Noh Sun-young placed seventh at two minutes and 1.69 seconds, Park Ji-woo finished 10th at 2:1.83, and Jang Su-ji came 11th at 2:2.37.

Cross-country skier Lee Chae-won of South Korea competes in the women’s 10-kilometer free race during the Asian Winter Games at Shirahatayama Open Stadium in Sapporo, Japan, Tuesday. Lee won the silver medal. / Yonhap

In the other Winter Asian Games match, speed skater Lee Sang-hwa lost to her rival Nao Kodaira of Japan.

At the Obihiro Forest Speed Skating Oval in Obihiro, some 200 kilometers east of Sapporo, Lee competed in the women’s 500-meter race and finished second at 37.70 seconds, 0.31 seconds behind Kodaira.

Two weeks ago, the two-time reigning Olympic champion placed second with a record of 37.48 seconds in the women’s 500-meter race at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Single Distance Championships, following Kodaira who won the race at 37.13 seconds.

South Korea added two more silver medals Tuesday.

In team pursuit speed skating, the trio of Park Ji-woo, Noh Seon-yeong and Kim Bo-reum posted the second-fastest record of 3:6.67, following Japan which clocked 3:00.08. China got the bronze in 3:10.23.

Short track speed skater Seo Yi-ra took the silver in the men’s 500-meter race at the Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink in Sapporo.

South Korea ranked second place with six gold medals, seven silver medals and seven bronze medals. The host Japan, which added five gold medals on Tuesday, placed first while China took third and Kazakhstan fourth.