South Korean speed skaters Mo Tae-bum and Lee Sang-hwa proved their prowess in the 500 meters, winning the world championships on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Mo won the 500-meter title at the ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
The 2010 Olympic medalist took the men’s 500-meter crown at the season-ending event, clocking a time of 1 minute, 9.64 seconds in two races to edge Michel Mulder of the Netherlands by 0.01 of a second.
Pekka Koskela of Finland took the bronze medal.
Korea’s Lee Sang-hwa (center), China’s Jing Yu (left) and the Netherlands’ Thijsje Oenema pose on the podium on Sunday. (AFP-Yonhap News)
With the victory, Mo became the third Korean male to win the title at the world championships ― Lee Kang-suk won the title in 2007 and 2009, and Lee Kyu-hyuk in 2011.
Earlier in the women’s race, Lee Sang-hwa became the first Korean female to win a medal in the 500 meters at the single distance worlds. She was second in last year’s event.
This year, Lee finished her first race in 38.03 seconds, but improved to 37.66 seconds in the second race to beat world sprint champion Jing Yu of China by 0.43 of a second. Thijsje Oenema of the Netherlands came in third.
The victories will have a positive impact on the two young skaters, who are looking for back-to-back titles at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Two years ago at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Mo, then 21, shocked the speed skating world by claiming a gold medal in the 500 meters in his Olympic debut.
He also won a silver medal in the 1,000 meters. At the 2010 Olympics, the 23-year-old Lee also won the women’s 500 meters, becoming Asia’s first female Olympic gold medalist in speed skating.
By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldm.com)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
