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Mo Tae-bum |
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Viktor Ahn |
Viktor Ahn seeking Russia’s short track moment
By Kwon Ji-youn
Korean athletes will make a serious bid for the country’s first medal, possibly gold, in the Sochi Olympics today (KST).
Reigning Olympic champion Mo Tae-bum and veteran Lee Kyou-hyuk are set to appear in the men’s 500-meter speed skating finals at the Adler Arena Skating Center tonight, a day before Lee Sang-hwa attempts to extend her dominance in the women’s 500 meters.
Threatening to overshadow Mo and Lee’s Olympic debuts is a former Korean Olympic great who now represents host nation Russia.
Viktor Ahn, the short-track speed skating star who switched his allegiance for the Sochi Games, has been eager to show skating officials in his birth country what they lost in him. His much-anticipated showdown will start with the men’s 1,500-meter finals.
Mo, 25, emerged as a top skater after winning the 500 meters in the 2010 Games in Vancouver. The 36-year-old Lee is a multiple winner of world championship titles and considers the Sochi Games his swansong.
Lee, who is clearly over the hill, isn’t considered a serious contender for Olympic hardware. Mo’s competition is expected to come from Kato Joji of Japan and Michel Mulder of the Netherlands. However, Mo maintained great form ahead of the Olympics, recently winning the 500-meter and 1,000-meter events at the fourth competition of the Speed Skating World Cup in Berlin.
“The ice is now in better condition,” speed skating Coach Kevin Crockett said. “Mo is ready. He has been faster in training than ever before.”
The first race in the men’s 500 meters will take place at 10 p.m. (KST) and the second and final race at 11:55 p.m.
Viktor’s redemption song
In 2006, Ahn, then Ahn Hyun-soo, proudly waved the Korean flag after pulling off a triple crown in short-track speed skating at the Turin Winter Games.
Fast-forward eight years, and Ahn is now wearing the colors of Russia and preparing to compete against the Korean national team, an established short-track powerhouse, starting with the 1,500-meter event on what is now home ice.
Ahn, a three-time Olympic champion for Korea, defected after the Korea Skating Union (KSU) left him off the national team for the 2010 Vancouver Games, a controversial decision the skater then suspected had something to do with his deteriorated relationship with KSU officials.
To Ahn, partaking in the Olympics was more important than what nation he represented, so he “shopped his services around” and found that Russia was looking for a contender as host nation. Ahn wrapped up his rehearsal for the Sochi Games with a quadruple crown in the European championships, proving that he is close to the athlete he was in Torino.
Ahn represents the most serious threat to the Korean team, which is without a surefire gold-medal favorite for the first time in as long as anyone can remember. Korea’s top skater is now 21-year-old Sin Da-woon, but if he defeats Ahn on Monday it would represent a major upset.
Sin emerged as a contender after winning three gold medals at the 2013 world championships, but followed this with disappointing form during the 2013-14 season. The slump of its best skater compromised Korea’s dominance in the sport. Lee Han-bin’s gold in the 1,500-meter at the World Cup event in Turin represented the country’s only gold in international events this season.
To make matter worse, veteran Noh Jin-kyu was sidelined from Sochi after breaking his left shoulder blade during practice in December and his career is now up in the air after doctors found bone cancer in the injured area.
Sin knows he arrived in Sochi as an underdog, but maintains that his goal is to take the gold.
“I am no longer focusing on my record, but on maintaining form for the race,” he told reporters after the first training session in Sochi. “The ice isn’t great, but it’s better than the ice at the Font-Romeu-Odeillo in France. It won’t be difficult to adapt.”
Off-season training at the Font-Romeu, which is located at an altitude of 1,800 meters, was beneficial, says Sin.
“High altitude makes it difficult to breathe, which causes headaches and dizziness,” he said. “But it’s comfortable here in Sochi.”
The upcoming showdown between Ahn and the Korean team is garnering confusion as Koreans begin making decisions about who to root for.
“One one hand, I’m hoping Ahn will win, giving the KSU a taste of their own medicine,” said Byun Young-hye, 43. “But on the other, I want at least one Korean to bring home a gold medal in short-track speed skating. I’m confused.”
The 1,500-meter heats are scheduled to take place at 6:45 p.m., and the finals are scheduled at 9:05 pm.
Teenage prodigy to make Olympic debut
Unlike their male compatriots, the women’s short-track speed skating team seems to be in good shape. About 45 minutes after the men’s 1,500-meter, Shim Suk-hee will take part in the ladies 500-meter heats, alongside compatriots Kim Ah-rang and Park Seung-hee. Shim will then participate in the ladies 3,000-meter relay semifinals.
The 16-year-old prodigy made a name for herself when she snagged nine gold medals in the 2012-13 World Cup. In the 2013-14 World Cup, she won six, proving that she is second to none in the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter events.
With China’s most decorated female Olympian Wang Meng out with an injury, Shim may luck out in the 500 meters as well. But Shim has made it clear that Wang’s absence will not affect her performance.
“I’m in good shape,” she told reporters after her second training session. “Whether the ice is good or bad, skaters have to adapt. I’m focusing on the 1,500-meter and the relay, and I hope to win at least one gold medal.”
The ladies 500-meter heats are scheduled to take place at 7:27 p.m. and 3,000-meter relay semifinals at 8:35 p.m.
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