Speed skater Lee savors gold triumph after narrow loss in Turin

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VANCOUVER, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- Speed skater Lee Sung-hwa's delivery of South
Korea's third gold medal from Vancouver represents a personal redemption after
she failed to reach the podium by a sliver of a second four years ago.
The 20-year-old sprinter from the Korea National Sport University won the women's
500m speed skating event on Tuesday, finishing two runs in a total 76.09 seconds.
Germany's Jenny Wolf came second with 76.14 seconds and China's Wang Beixing
stood third with 76.63 seconds.
Since her elementary school years, Lee boasted a reputable track record,
overturning a number of previous records in domestic competitions. She made it
into the national squad in 2004 while in high school.
Lee eventually made her Olympic debut at Turin, Italy, four year ago but missed a
bronze medal by a mere 17 hundredths of a second. The then-high schooler appeared
to take the loss hard, leaving the ice in floods of tears.
Four years later, her eyes welled up again in Vancouver.
"I cried in Turin after failing to take a medal. But today, it's tears of joy,"
the jubilant Lee told reporters. "It's incredible that I won gold. I knew I raced
well in the second run but I couldn't believe that my name was on the top of the
list."
Lee has practiced to improve her start and trained mostly along with male skaters
because she could not find any female competitors with similar speed in Korea.
Lee had been expected to reach the medal table as she has shown consistency in
her results, hitting podium finishes in international competitions and standing
third in the world rankings.
"Training together with male athletes was a big help. I seem to have improved
significantly while trying to keep up with the older male skaters (while
training)," said Lee.
Lee recorded 37.24 seconds in the 500m event of the fifth World Cup race last
December, the world's fourth fastest record.
She took gold in the women's 500m speed skating event at the 2009 Winter
Universiade in China and won the 2010 world championship tournament by finishing
first in the 500m event. She was the first South Korean woman to become the
overall world champion.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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