Koreans grab medals in mass start at Speed Skating World Cup

Chung Jae-won of South Korea, left, stands on the podium after winning the silver medal in the men's mass start at the International Skating Union (ISU) Speed Skating World Cup event at Thialf in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, Dec. 7 (local time). Courtesy of ISU

Korean speed skaters collected mass start medals at the latest International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup stop in the Netherlands.

Chung Jae-won claimed silver in the mass start at Thialf in the Dutch city of Heerenveen on Sunday (local time), with a time of 7:25.568. Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands finished first in 7:24.963, while another Dutch skater, Bart Hoolwerf, got the bronze in 7:25.941.

This was Chung's second straight mass start silver medal during this ISU World Cup season, following the one in Calgary, Canada, in November.

Chung stayed in the back of the pack in the 24-skater race and was still in 15th place through 13 laps in the 16-lap event. But the Korean kicked into a new gear and moved up to fourth place with two laps left. Chung posted the fastest split over the final lap with 24.060 seconds to finish in second place.

In the women's mass start, Park Ji-woo earned bronze with a time of 8:08.285 for her first career ISU World Cup medal. After a late push, Park held off Ivanie Blondin of Canada (8:08.301) at the finish line to reach the podium.

Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands won gold in 8:07.660, followed by Mia Manganello of the United States in 8:07.924.

This was the third of the five Speed Skating World Cup scheduled for this season. The ISU will make its next stop in Hamar, Norway, this weekend, with the finale set for January in Inzell, Germany.