(Winter Olympics) Speed skaters seeking elusive South Korean gold

By Kim Boram
(This is the fourth of five articles on South Korea's expected performance at the
Vancouver Winter Olympics.)

SEOUL, Jan 29 (Yonhap) -- Fourteen years had passed since a South Korean managed
to stand on the Olympic podium in the speed skating event.
When Lee Kang-seok captured bronze in the men's 500 meter event at the 2006 Turin
Winter Olympics, he claimed just the second medal in the event since Kim Yoon-man
took silver in the 1,000m race at the 1992 Albertville Games.
Yet another speed skating event, short track speed skating, has brought home 29
medals out of a total of 31 South Korea won from all events of five previous
Olympics, speed skaters have accounted for only the remaining two, without having
a gold.
They have seen short trackers' spectacular gold-medal hauls monopolize the
attention of the people and enjoy unchallenged crown status of all the Korean
winter sports events. Speed skaters have suffered as a result.
Lee Kyou-hyuk, for example, has been hailed as one of the strongest hopefuls for
gold in each Winter Olympics since 1994, but the podium has eluded him four
times. He finished fourth at the Turin Games four years ago.
Yet in 2010, the 32-year-old will lead the South Korean team in Vancouver in his
fifth Olympic Games. And having won the 2010 World Sprint Speed Skating
Championships held in Japan early this month, winning the 1,000m event in two
races, he is tipped as favorite for the gold medal.
"The Olympics is no longer new to me," said Lee. "I want to show what I can do
next month after all the experience I've gained. I am confident."
He has help from his compatriot Lee Kang-seok, who won the bronze in Turin and is
at the top of the World Cup rankings in the 500m event. He finished second in the
1,000m at the latest world championship competition in Japan.
He is not hiding his intention to beat world-record holder Jeremy Wotherspoon of
Canada in order to win a gold medal at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver
next month.
"I'm feeling good right now just ahead of the Olympics. I want to have a medal of
a brighter color than the last Games," said Lee Kang-seok. "I will outskate him
(Wotherspoon) on his home turf."
In the women's squad, Lee Sang-hwa is ready to make a big surprise at the global
hibernal showpiece.
Ranking third at the World Cup standings, she marked the fastest time in the
women's 500m event to become the first South Korean to win the overall
championship title at January's sprint world championships.
"I think I'm better at keeping my composure than I was in Turin four years ago.
I'm positive (of the results of upcoming Olympics)," she said.
The South Korean sprinters are excited, positive and confident in their
preparation for Vancouver after months of hard training and good results in the
international competitions last year and this year.
Their race, scheduled for Feb. 13, will be counted on to make a significant
contribution to South Korea's charges at the quadrennial sporting event next
month, ending a decades-long gold medal drought in the event.
brk@yna.co.kr
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