The Korea Herald

[Graphic News] South Korea strong in short track, Germany in luge

A handful of countries have dominated the gold medal tally in varying sports in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. South Korea is far ahead in short track speed skating, claiming 19 of 40 gold medals before the 2014 Games. Both Canada and China are at a distant second with seven each. Germany dominates in luge, sweeping 28 gold medals since it was adopted as an Olympic program in 1964. The number is more than half of the 41 gold up for grabs in the event thus far. Overall, Germany has taken 71 of 1

SportsFeb. 11, 2014

[Graphic News] South Korea strong in short track, Germany in luge

Bumpy road ahead

Michael Sam will face a daunting set of challenges that most rookies don’t have to deal with when making the already formidable jump from college to the NFL.The SEC’s co-defensive player of the year is about to find out if America’s most popular sport, rooted in machismo and entrenched in locker room hijinks, is ready for its first openly gay player.First, he’ll have to find a team willing to put up with the media circus that will surround him. Then, he’ll have to find acceptance like he did at

More SportsFeb. 11, 2014

Pistons sink Spurs 109-100

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (AP) ― Brandon Jennings scored 21 points, and the Detroit Pistons beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-100 on Monday night in John Loyer’s first game as interim coach.Detroit abruptly fired Maurice Cheeks on Sunday after only 50 games as coach, but although they’ve been unimpressive for the most part this season, the Pistons have played better lately. The comfortable win over the Spurs was Detroit’s fifth in seven games.Rodney Stuckey scored 20 points for the Pistons, and Greg M

More SportsFeb. 11, 2014

Jeter: Yankees have to move on without A-Rod

TAMPA, Florida (AP) ― Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season.Rodriguez ended his extended and acrimonious fight with Major League Baseball on Friday, withdrawing a pair of lawsuits that were filed in an attempt to overturn a season-long ban for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal ― the longest penalty in the sport’s history related to performance-enhancing drugs.Jeter spoke Monday at t

BaseballFeb. 11, 2014

Sochi faces issue of empty seats

SOCHI, Russia (AP) ― It’s an issue that comes up in the early days of almost every Olympics: What to do about those empty seats and lack of buzz?It’s the case again in Sochi, with some senior Olympic officials voicing concern about less-than-capacity crowds and a dearth of spectator enthusiasm.One International Olympic Committee member suggested Monday that school children and unarmed soldiers be let in to help fill venues.Gerhard Heiberg, a Norwegian member who heads the IOC marketing commissio

Olympic GamesFeb. 11, 2014

Olympic halfpipe problems mounting

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) ― Rider after rider took a crash course Monday night on an Olympic halfpipe that looked only half ready with less than 24 hours until men’s competition is set to start.There were dozens of falls, very few big tricks and a lot of complaining during a practice session that was pushed from morning to night while workers tried to make fixes. The men’s event is Tuesday.“When you see every other person fall, you know something’s wrong,” said American Hannah Teter, who too

Olympic GamesFeb. 11, 2014

Hoefl-Riesch wins 2nd gold in super-combined

SOCHI, Russia (AP) ― Different American, same result for Maria Hoefl-Riesch ― another Olympic gold in the super-combined.Just as she did four years ago at the Vancouver Games, Hoefl-Riesch found herself trailing an American after the downhill leg before using her slalom skills to vault into first place and successfully defend her Olympic title in the dual-run event.The German finished less than a second ahead of both silver medalist Nicole Hosp of Austria and Julia Mancuso of the United States,

Olympic GamesFeb. 11, 2014

Lee Sang-hwa goes for second straight Olympic gold

Speed skating world record holder Lee Sang-hwa will chase her second straight Olympic gold in the women's 500 meters on Tuesday at the Sochi Winter Olympics.Lee was the surprise Olympic champion four years ago in Vancouver and has dominated the 500ｍ event since then. She set her first world record in January last year and broke it three times in November. Lee is trying to become only the third woman to repeat as the Olympic champ in the 500ｍ.The women's curling team will face Japan and then Swit

Olympic GamesFeb. 11, 2014

Lee Sang-hwa goes for second straight Olympic gold

S. Korea still seeking medal after three days in Sochi

South Korea remained without a medal after the third day of competition at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Monday, as short trackers and speed skaters fell short of expectations.Speed skater Mo Tae-bum finished fourth in the men's 500 meters. He was trying to defend his Olympic gold, but Michel Mulder led the Dutch sweep of the medals in the sprint event.In the two-race event, Mo finished with 69.69 seconds, 0.38 second behind Mulder. Three other South Koreans, Lee Kyou-hyuk, Kim Jun-ho and Lee Kan

Olympic GamesFeb. 11, 2014

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum fails to win medal

South Korean speed skater Mo Tae-bum finished fourth in the men's 500 meters at the Sochi Winter Games on Monday, coming up just short of the country's first medal in Russia.In the two-race event at Adler Arena Skating Center, Mo had a combined time of 69.69 seconds -- 0.38 second behind the champion, Michel Mulder of the Netherlands.Mo was in fourth place after the opening race at 34.84 seconds, 0.25 second behind the leader, Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands, and finished his second race in 34.8

Olympic GamesFeb. 11, 2014

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum fails to win medal

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum in fourth after first race in men's 500m

South Korean speed skater Mo Tae-bum finished fourth in the opening race of the men's 500 meters at the Sochi Winter Games on Monday, keeping alive his chance to win a second straight Olympic gold.Mo finished the first run of the two-race event in 34.84 seconds, 0.25 second behind the leader Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands.The second races will start at 6:55 p.m. in Russia (11:55 p.m. in South Korea).Mo was grouped in the 18th among 20 pairs and skated in the outer lane next to Joji Kato of Japa

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2014

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum in fourth after first race in men's 500m

Short tracker Lee Han-bin finishes sixth in men's 1,500 meters

South Korean short track speed skater Lee Han-bin finished sixth in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday at the Sochi Winter Olympics.Lee, the only South Korean in the finals, came up short of winning the country's first medal at the ongoing Winter Games.In the seven-man final, Lee started the 13 1/2-lap race in the back of the pack. He moved up to fifth place with nine laps to go, and passed another skater in the next lap. That was as close as Lee came to winning a medal, however, as he slipped to

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2014

Short tracker Lee Han-bin finishes sixth in men's 1,500 meters

Short tracker Lee Han-bin reaches finals in men's 1,500-meter final

South Korean short track speed skater Lee Han-bin reached the finals in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday at the Sochi Winter Olympics, while three female short trackers reached the quarters in the 500ｍ.Lee was the only one of three South Koreans to make it out of the semifinals at Iceberg Skating Palace, keeping South Korea's hopes alive for its first medal in Sochi.The finals will start at 4:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in South Korea) on Monday.Joining Lee in the finals will be Viktor Ahn of Russia. Bor

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2014

Three S. Koreans reach semifinals in men's short track

Three South Korean short track speed skaters advanced to the semifinals in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday at the Sochi Winter Olympics.Park Se-young, Sin Da-woon and Lee Han-bin all made it out of heats to keep their medal hopes alive at Iceberg Skating Palace.The semifinals will start at 3:04 p.m. on Monday (8:04 p.m. in South Korea), followed by the finals at 4:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in South Korea.)They will try to win South Korea's first medal at the ongoing Winter Games.In heats, 36 skaters

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2014

Walker hangs on to win at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, California (AP) ― The finish wasn’t what Jimmy Walker wanted. The result is what he’s come to expect.Walker led by as many as six shots Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, only for it to be decided by his final putt. He ran his birdie attempt 5 feet by the hole, and had to make that for par to close with a 2-over 74 and a one-shot win over Dustin Johnson and Jim Renner.“It’s drama, man,” Walker said on the 18th green. “It was too much for me.”But it was a familiar outc

GolfFeb. 10, 2014

Coetzee claims first Euro title

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ― George Coetzee came from four shots back to win the Joburg Open, his first European Tour title, and a place at the British Open on a profitable Sunday for the South African.Coetzee’s final-round 6-under 66, with six birdies and no bogeys, took him to 19-under 268 overall and past compatriots Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters, the overnight co-leaders.The 27-year-old Coetzee was flawless on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to clinch his maiden title

GolfFeb. 10, 2014

Messi nets 2 as Barca fights back

BARCELONA (AP) ― Lionel Messi scored two goals and set up another to lead Barcelona to a 4-1 comeback victory at Sevilla on Sunday, moving the defending champions into a three-way tie for the Spanish league lead.Despite Barcelona showing the same vulnerability in defense, Messi’s best performance since returning from a lengthy injury layoff ensured that his side bounced back from a defeat by Valencia in the previous round. Barcelona is now level with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the top of

SoccerFeb. 10, 2014

Golden hopefuls in Sochi

Olympic speed skating champion Lee Sang-hwa, who earned South Korea the gold medal in the women’s 500 meters in Vancouver four years ago and currently holds the world record in the event at 36.36 seconds, is set to race toward another golden finish in Sochi on Tuesday. The women’s 500-meter race will begin at 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 11, Korean time, at the Adler Arena Skating Center in Sochi. Lee will likely face fierce competition from Germany’s Jenny Wolf, China’s Beixing Wang, Russia’s Olga Fatkuli

SportsFeb. 10, 2014

Russia wins team skating for 1st gold

SOCHI, Russia (AP) ― A master showman and four-time Olympic medalist, Evgeni Plushenko knows brilliance on the ice.He saw it Sunday night inside the Iceberg at Sochi’s Olympic Park from a countrywoman half his age. And he is certain Russia’s figure skating future is secure in the skates of Julia Lipnitskaia.“She is a genius,” Plushenko said.Along with eight teammates, the 31-year-old veteran and 15-year-old Olympic rookie won the new event of team figure skating and lifted the host nation to its

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2014

What Olympic athletes do for a living

Entering fourth day into the Sochi Olympics, some of the athletes’ day jobs came under the spotlight.The jobs include lawyers, teachers, handymen, and even restaurant managers.British violinist Vanessa-Mae, having sold in excess of 10 million album, is one of the athletes who left her day job for some time to participate in the Sochi Olympics. The 35-year-old is set to chase gold for her father’s homeland Thailand in alpine skiing as Vanessa Vanakorn using her Thai father’s surname. The alpine s

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2014