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Korean short-track skater Ahn Hyun-soo (21) has become the nation's first gold-medalist at this year's games. At the Palavela ice arena in Turin, Italy on Sunday, Ahn took the top prize in the men's 1,500 m competition, finishing with a record time of two minutes 25.341 seconds. Fellow Korean Lee Ho-suk took silver with a time of two minutes, 25.600 seconds.
It was Ahn’s first Olympic gold. He lost the top spot last time after he fell in the final lap of the 1,000 m races at the 2002 Salt Lake City games. In the 1,500 m races in the same Olympics, Kim Dong-sung was disqualified -- in a ruling still hotly contested to this day by Koreans -- and lost gold to Anton Ohno of the U.S.
On Sunday, his strategy was to hang back at first, then bring a come-from-behind victory. It was to start last, making competitors feel easy and, while saving stamina until after the middle phase, speed up and outrun three or four competitors in an instant.
Since the other likely candidate for the championship, Apolo Anton Ohno, was disqualified at the semi-finals, Ahn Hyun-soo and Lee Ho-suk stood comfortably at the starting line in the final. However, Ahn says he was sorry to miss the chance to face off with Ohno at the final. He also said he is aiming at grabbing another gold medal in the remaining 500 m and 1,000 m races.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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