South Korea grabbed silver in the men's team pursuit speed skating event at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Saturday.

The trio of Lee Seung-hoon, Joo Hyong-jun and Kim Cheol-min finished the eight-lap race in 3:40.85, 3.14 seconds behind the heavily favored Netherlands in the final, but still collected South Korea's first medal in the team pursuit. The event became a medal sport in 2006.

The Dutch team of Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen and Koen Verweij set the Olympic record with 3:37.71.

South Korea and the Netherlands traded leads over the first four laps, before the Dutch opened a 0.95-second lead after five laps. The lead swelled to 1.50 seconds over the next lap, and the Netherlands cruised to a comfortable victory.

Lee has now won a speed skating medal in two straight Olympics.

He was the gold medalist in the 10,000ｍ and the silver medal winner in the 5,000ｍ in Vancouver in 2010. He had missed the podium in both races in Sochi but salvaged his Olympics with the team medal.

It is the first Olympic medal for both Joo and Kim.

The Netherlands has won seven speed skating gold medals in Sochi, more than all other countries combined.

Kramer entered this competition as the reigning 5,000ｍ champ and the silver medalist in the 10,000ｍ. Blokhuijsen finished second behind Kramer in the 5,000ｍ, while Verweij won the silver in the 1,500ｍ. (Yonhap)