Unlike most people, Koreans find beauty at the Winter Olympics not in figure skating but in short track, the only discipline where the nation invariably wins medals. Among 20 gold medals Korea won in Olympic winter games, 19 came from short track, which is expected to earn the country at least two and up to four gold medals at this year¡¯s games in Turin, hoisting Korea among the top 10 medal winners.
Short track races have usually been held during the last four or five days of the games, which was why Koreans did not take much of an interest until the middle of the events. This time, however, the races will be dotted throughout the games, starting from the second day after the opening ceremony to the last day before the closing ceremony. That is tipped to stimulate the curiosity of Koreans throughout the event and, crucially, allows the athletes some rest.
The U.S. weekly Sports Illustrated predicts that Korea will clinch four gold medals in Turin, for the men¡¯s 500 m and 1000 m races, the women¡¯s 1,500 m race and the men¡¯s 5,000 m relay. The Korea Sports Council expects gold medals from the women¡¯s 1,500 m race and both the men¡¯s and women¡¯s relays.
The top male skater is Ahn Hyun-soo, following in the skate tracks of Kim Ki-hun and Kim Dong-sung. Ahn's major strengths are in the 500 m and 1,500 m races, with a medal more likely in the latter because it is a Korean specialty. That means Korea could earn its first gold medal in Turin at 6 a.m. Korean time on Monday, the third day of the event.
On Valentine¡¯s Day, Lee Kang-seok will do his best to win a medal in the men¡¯s speed skating discipline. He won bronze in the men¡¯s 500 m race at last year's Winter Universiade, putting his name on the map, and set a new Korean record with his 1,000-meter race in last November's second World Cup speed skating, crossing the finishing line in 34.55 seconds, which ranks him second in the world for this season. Koreans hope Lee will be able to win a medal 14 years after Kim Yun-man took silver in the 1,000 m race in 1992's Albertville Olympic Winter Games. In addition, Lee Sang-hwa, who won bronze in last March's World Single Distance Championship, is expected to take bronze again in the 500 m speed skating event on Feb. 15.
The national squad's coaching staff are pinning their highest hopes on the women¡¯s 1,500 m short track race, which will be run at 3:30 a.m. by Korean time on Feb. 19. Jin Sun-yu, who won the overall championship at the World Cup last year, is very competitive in the discipline, dominating pretty much every event she took part in. She is up against a formidable rival in Yang Yang from China.
The women¡¯s 3,000 m short track relay will take place in the morning of Feb. 23. Korea won gold in the event three consecutive times since 1994's Lillehammer Games. Jin Sun-yu, Byun Chun-sa, Kang Yun-mi and Choi Eun-kyung will be passing the baton. On Feb. 26, just before the closing ceremony, the men¡¯s 500 m finals, women¡¯s 1,000 m races and men¡¯s 5,000 relay are held all together. The KSC expects a gold medal only from the male relay race, but coach Park Se-woo says we can expect medals from all three games.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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