(2nd LD) (Olympics) S. Korea finishes 4th in men's 5,000m short track relay

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By Yoo Jee-ho and Kang Yoon-seung

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea finished fourth in the men's 5,000-meter relay in short track speed skating at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Thursday.

Lim Hyo-jun lost his balance and fell without contact during Lap 22 of the 45-lap race at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung while South Korea was in the lead in the four-team race. Kwak Yoon-gy quickly made the exchange but the team got lapped by Hungary, Canada and China.

South Korea hasn't won gold in the men's 5,000m relay since 2006. The country got gold in 1992 and silver in 1998 and again in 2010.

Hungary won the gold medal with an Olympic record time of 6:31.971, followed by China with 6:32.035. Canada won the bronze in 6:32.282, with South Korea finishing nearly 10 full seconds behind in fourth.

Kwak, the eldest member of the team at 28, apologized for failing to end the 12-year gold medal drought.

"I know a lot of people have been waiting for the relay gold, and I am sorry that our mistake cost us," he said. "I feel like I should have done a better job of making this team tighter. But we should be able to come back even stronger for the next Olympics."

Seo Yi-ra, who won a bronze in the 1,000m earlier in the Olympics, said the team just couldn't execute what it set out to do.

"We'd prepared so much for this relay final," he said. "And we didn't even get to show people what we were capable of, and that's the disappointing part."

This was the final short track speed skating race at PyeongChang 2018. South Korea ended with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals to lead all nations.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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