Kim Tae-yun wins bronze in men's 1,000m speed skating

Kim Tae-yun waves to fans after winning the bronze medal in the men’s 1,000-meter speed skating race at Gangneung Oval, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korean long track speed skater Kim Tae-yun clinched the bronze medal in the men’s 1,000-meter race at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Friday.

At the Gangneung Oval, Kim came in third with a time of 1 minute and 8.22 seconds. Kjeld Nuis claimed the gold after clocking 1:07.95, and Havard Lorentzen of Norway the silver at 1:07.99.

Kim, 23, has been one of the host country’s most promising young skaters. Though he missed last year’s Sapporo Winter Asian Games after falling in the national team qualifier, Kim qualified for the PyeongChang national team with the fastest record last October. At the 2014 Olympics, Kim clocked 1:10.81 to finish 30th.

The men’s 1,000m race is meaningful in Korean speed skating, as retired speed skater Kim Yoon-man clinched the silver medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics. It was the country’s first-ever Winter Olympics medal.

Kim said a bronze medal was beyond his expectations.

“I didn’t expect to win a medal but I am glad to have one. I came here to enjoy skating and actually I wasn’t nervous today at all. My condition was great because I wasn’t nervous,” Kim said.

He said he has prepared a lot for this race.

“I lost weight and I changed all my skating equipment and blades and that helped me. It helped me power up. I used my power to run and now I’ve lost weight so I just use the ice,” he said.

“I practice only for the Olympics. My results at the World Cup were not great. I fell down at the trials and I didn’t think there was any possibility I would get a result in the 1,000m.”

Another Korean skater Cha Min-kyu posted his best time of the season, clocking 1:09.27 to finish in 12th place.

Cha competed in the race instead of Mo Tae-bum. Though he was not supposed to skate in the event, he decided to join it as Mo injured his left knee and waist in a fall during a training session on Thursday.

In the 1,000m race, Cha had a strong start, clocking 16.31 seconds in the first 200m. Though the 1,000m is not his favored event, he held his speed to post his best time of this season. His personal best is 1:09.00.

“I tried to skate my best and did my best to repay the support of the home crowd,” Cha said after the race.

On setting his personal best record, Cha said he wanted to do his utmost because competed in the race in place of Mo.

Overall, Korea has won four gold medals at the PyeongChang Olympics, four silver and four bronze medals.