GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- South Korea's Seo Yi-ra on Saturday won bronze in men's 1,000 meter short track speed skating at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Seo, the reigning world overall champion in short track, finished third in the 1,000m finals at the Gangeung Ice Arena, behind Canadian Samuel Girard and US John-Henry Krueger.
His teammate Lim Hyo-jun finished fourth after a collision with Seo and Shaolin Sandor Liu of Hungary, who was disqualified for an impeding penalty.
Seo and Lim were racing third and fourth with just one lap remaining but tripped over the Hungrian skater Liu, who fell while trying to surpass the Canadian and American leaders.
Seo immediately sprang to foot and crossed the finish line, but it was too late to catch up with the two skaters.
(Yonhap)
"After I fell, I had nothing in my head. I just tried to do my best until the finish line. So I continued to race," said Seo, who was disqualified in the men's 1,500m a week ago. "Nevertheless, I ran until the end."
But Seo, the second-oldest male skater on the team, was not disappointed with the third-place finish as it is his first medal at his first Olympics.
"I was satisfied that I showed good races in the quarters, semis and finals to South Korean people," he said. "So I can smile now."
As for his earlier promise to premier his own rap in front of the media, he said he will keep the promise after pulling off good results in the remaining 500m and 5,000m relay.
Lim, the 1,500m gold medalist, felt sorry for missing his second gold at PyeongChang.
"It went wrong. I was entangled with the pack while trying to move inside," he said. "If I didn't fall in the final lap, it must have been worth a try."
But he was confident for the upcoming races.
"I hope we will meet lady luck in the coming competitions," Lim said. "The team is in a pretty good mood as we have one gold and one bronze today. We can win the rest of the events." (Yonhap)
