(2nd LD) S. Korea collects four medals at Short Track World Cup

(ATTN: UPDATES with relay results in paras 19-21; CHANGES photos)
By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Yonhap) -- Host South Korea collected four medals at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track Speed Skating on Saturday.

Choi Min-jeong was responsible for two of the medals at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul. First, she won the women's 1,500-meter gold medal in 2:24.515, beating teammate Shim Suk-hee by 0.181 second at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul. This was Choi's third World Cup title in the distance in four attempts. Kim Boutin of Canada took third place.

A third South Korean in the final, Kim A-lang, finished in sixth place.

Then in the 500m final, Choi took silver medal in the 500m, just behind Elise Christie of Britain to grab her second World Cup medal in the event this season.

In the men's 1,500m final, Hwang Dae-heon took silver medal behind Charles Hamelin of Canada.

Hwang's teammate Lim Hyo-jun came in third place but was later disqualified after a near-collision with Thibaut Fauconnet of France.

No South Korean advanced to the men's 500m final.

In the women's 1,500m final, the three South Koreans started the 13.5-lap race in the back of the pack. About four laps into the race, Kim briefly moved out to the front, before Shim and Boutin separated themselves from the pack.

Those two, plus Arianna Fontana of Italy, were in the lead with four laps to go, with Choi lurking in the back. Then over the final stretch, Choi kicked into another gear and an impressive burst of speed pushed her to first place in a blink of an eye.

"I did a lot better than I'd expected here, and I fed off the crowd's energy today," Choi said. "This World Cup season has been an opportunity to test myself and prepare for the Olympics. In this final, things didn't quite go the way I'd planned early, but I stayed composed and finished the race well."

In the men's race, Hwang and Lim positioned themselves in the front early on, before Hamelin joined them. Soon, it was a two-man race between Hwang and Hamelin, and the Canadian edged out the Korean by just 0.03 second in 2:14.179.

Lim was the third skater to cross the finish line but both he and Fauconnet were penalized.

Hwang, the youngest member of the South Korean team at 18, said the World Cup season has been a learning experience.

"I know I still have long ways to go," Hwang said. "I let Hamelin pass me over the final lap, and it goes to show you how much work I have to do."

In the women's 500m final, Choi remained in last place among four skaters until two laps to go. She tried to make a move on the outside, with three others -- Christie, Martina Valcepina and Marianne St-Gelais -- jostling in front, but couldn't quite catch up to Christie at the end.

Choi finished 0.119 second back in 43.378.

"This isn't my main event, and I am happy to win a medal here," Choi said. "I tried to make my move on the outside because I didn't want to risk colliding with others in tight space on the inside. I've got to work on whatever I need to work on before the Olympics."

On Sunday, the last day of the competition, finals for the men's and women's 1,000m, and the women's 3,000m relay and men's 5,000m relay will take place.

Both the men's and women's relay teams for South Korea survived Saturday's semifinals.

The men's team of Hwang, Lim, Kwak Yoon-gy and Kim Do-kyoum finished second in their heat behind the Netherlands. The South Korean men are seeking their first World Cup relay title of the season.

The women's team of Shim, Kim A-lang, Kim Ye-jin and Lee Yu-bin also ranked second in their heat, with Russia coming in first. South Korea has won two relay titles in three World Cups so far.

This World Cup is the fourth and final one of the season, and also the last qualifying event for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

A total of 110 Olympic spots, 55 each for men and women, are up for grabs. At World Cups, individual skaters and relay teams each earn 10,000 points for gold, 8,000 for silver, 6,400 for bronze and so forth. In the 500m and 1,000m for both men and women, 32 quota spots are up for grabs. In the 1,500 for both, the maximum is 36. And eight teams apiece will compete in the men's 5,000m and women's 3,000m relays.

South Korea is guaranteed five men and five women in all races as the Olympic host, but has all but secured maximum quotas of three skaters in every distance on merit.

South Korea leads all nations with 21 Olympic short track gold medals all-time.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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