[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Cha Jun-hwan finishes 5th in men's singles figure skating

With a performance equally mesmerizing and frustrating, Cha Jun-hwan made a piece of South Korean figure skating history in Beijing on Thursday. Cha finished fifth in the men's singles figure skating competition at Beijing 2022 with a total score of a new personal-best 282.38 points. He earned 182.87 points in the free skate, also a new career high, despite a couple of mistakes with jumps. This is the best Olympic performance by a South Korean male figure skater. Cha himself had held the previou

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Defending skeleton champion out of medal contention at halfway point

BEIJING -- The 2018 Olympic men's skeleton champion Yun Sung-bin ranked outside the top 10 halfway through his gold medal defense at Beijing 2022 on Thursday. The South Korean had a combined time of 2:02.43 to rank 12th after the first two of four runs at Yanqing National Sliding Centre in Yanqing District, northwest of Beijing. Yun sits 2.10 seconds back of the leader, Christopher Grotheer of Germany. The one other South Korean in action, Jung Seung-gi, is in 10th place at 2:02.22. At PyeongCha

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Figure skater You Young shrugs off Russian's reported doping, keeps focus on self

BEIJING -- South Korean figure skater You Young is so locked in on her own pursuit of a medal in China -- to a degree that she had a decidedly nonchalant reaction to one of the most shocking stories to come out of Beijing 2022 so far. Kamila Valieva, a Russian teen sensation and the prohibitive gold medal favorite in the women's singles, has tested positive for a banned substance, Russian media reported Thursday. If Valieva, who helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to gold in the team comp

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2022

Tottenham's Son Heung-min scores after monthlong injury

Tottenham Hotspurs' Son Heung-min has scored his ninth goal of the Premier League season after returning from a monthlong injury but could not prevent his team from losing two matches in a row. Son netted his ninth goal in the league -- 10th in all competitions for the 2021-22 season -- in Tottenham's 3-2 defeat against Southampton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Thursday (Korean time). Thanks to the goal, Son marked double-digit figures for goals for the sixth straight season. And it

SoccerFeb. 10, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Short track speed skater going after 1st medal in Beijing

BEIJING -- After three days' worth of races, South Korea finally has its first gold medal in short track speed skating at Beijing 2022. On Friday, Choi Min-jeong will try to add to that total. Choi, the double gold medalist from PyeongChang 2018, will compete in the quarterfinals of the women's 1,000m at Capital Indoor Stadium, with the semifinals and the final also scheduled for later in the evening. Hwang Dae-heon came through with South Korea's first gold in short track and also its first gol

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2022

With rousing race, short tracker gives S. Korea 1st gold in Beijing

A day after winning its first medal of Beijing 2022, South Korea finally collected its first gold medal in the Chinese capital Wednesday. Hwang Dae-heon captured the men's 1,500m short track speed skating title at Capital Indoor Stadium, for South Korea's first gold in Beijing and its first short track medal of any color here. Hwang narrowly beat Steven Dubios of Canada, 2:09.219 to 2:09.254. The gold provided a measure of personal redemption for Hwang, who had unexpectedly found himself at

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2022

'Be Like Mike': how S. Korean short track champion looked to Michael Jordan for inspiration

Hours after being disqualified from the men's 1,000m short track speed skating race at Beijing 2022 on Monday, South Korean Hwang Dae-heon posted a quote from Michael Jordan on his Instagram. It read: "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." In winning the 1,500m gold medal at Capital Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, Hwang did all of that. He didn't let obstacles stop him in

Olympic GamesFeb. 10, 2022

Hwang Dae-heon skates past judging controversy for short track gold

Hwang Dae-heon couldn't have imagined a worse start to Beijing 2022, his second Winter Olympics. Last Saturday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, the South Korean short track speed skater and his mixed relay team crashed out of the quarterfinals. Two days later, Hwang, along with a teammate Lee June-seo, were sent packing from the semifinals of the men's 1,000m on what many angry South Korean officials and fans believe were unfair officiating decisions. Then on Wednesday, the 2018 Olympic

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

Hwang Dae-heon wins men's 1,500m short track title for S. Korea's 1st gold in Beijing

South Korean short track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon captured gold in the men's 1,500m at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday, bouncing back from a recent officiating controversy for the country's first gold in the Chinese capital. Hwang edged out Steven Dubois of Canada for his first Olympic gold at Capital Indoor Stadium. Semen Elistratov of the Russian Olympic Committee took bronze. Hwang came in 2:09.219, with Dubois checking in at 2:09.254 and Elistratov at 2:09.267. This is the second career Olym

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

Short tracker Hwang Dae-heon wins gold in men's 1,500m

South Korean short track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon captured gold in the men's 1,500m at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday, bouncing back from a recent officiating controversy for the country's first gold in the Chinese capital. Hwang edged out Steven Dubois of Canada for his first Olympic gold at Capital Indoor Stadium. Semen Elistratov of the Russian Olympic Committee took bronze. This is the second career Olympic medal for Hwang, who won silver in the 500m at PyeongChang 2018. Two other South K

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

Chinese Embassy voices 'grave concern' over accusations of judging bias at Beijing Olympics

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul expressed "grave concern" Wednesday over the accusations of favorable judging for the Chinese team in a short track speed skating competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Two South Korean skaters -- Lee June-seo and Hwang Dae-heon -- were disqualified in the semifinals of the men's 1,000-meter race Monday night, with Chinese competitors reaching the finals. It caused an uproar among many South Koreans, as they regard the short track speed skating jud

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

S. Korea voices concerns about short track judging in meeting with int'l officials

BEIJING -- South Korean leaders at Beijing 2022 met virtually with senior international skating officials Wednesday to express their concerns about the state of refereeing in short track speed skating. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said Lee Kee-heung, its president and a member of the International Olympic Committee, and Yoon Hong-geun, head of the athletic mission and of the Korea Skating Union, held a video conference behind closed doors with International Skating Union President

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan caught up in numbers game

BEIJING -- In figure skating today, it's the numbers game that people play. The current International Skating Union (ISU) judging system assigns points to technical elements in skaters' programs, such as jumps and spins. This is all designed to eliminate room for subjectivity in scoring, in response to some damaging judging scandals from the past. Perhaps in an unintended side effect of this shift, figure skating has become increasingly more about jumps and less about artistry and choreography.

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

Figure skater poised for history; skeleton slider begins gold medal defense

Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan will try to make a piece of South Korean Olympic history Thursday when he takes the ice for the men's singles free skate at Beijing 2022. Cha finished Tuesday's short program in fourth place with 99.51 points, his new personal best. Shoma Uno of Japan, the reigning silver medalist, is in third at 105.90 points. Cha will be hard pressed to close that seemingly small gap. He will only attempt two quadruple jumps, while Uno has attempted four or five quad jumps in his f

Olympic GamesFeb. 9, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Not content with two bronze medals, speed skater takes aim at gold in 2026

  BEIJING -- South Korean speed skater Kim Min-seok is his own toughest critic. He doesn‘t usually pat himself on the back. Not even winning a second straight Olympic bronze medal, as he did in Beijing on Tuesday, changed that. 　 　Kim earned bronze in the men’s 1,500m race of Beijing 2022 with a time of 1:44.24. Kjeld Nuis, who skated next to Kim in the 11th pair out of 14 at the National Speed Skating Oval, defended his gold medal with an Olympic record time of 1:43.21. Anothe

Olympic GamesFeb. 8, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] Speed skater Kim Min-seok wins men's 1,500m bronze for S. Korea's 1st medal in Beijing

BEIJING -- Speed skater Kim Min-seok brought South Korea its first medal of Beijing 2022 on Tuesday, grabbing bronze for his second consecutive Olympics. 　 　Kim finished the men‘s 1,500m race at the National Speed Skating Oval in 1:44.24, 1.03 seconds back of the champion, Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands. 　 　Another Dutch skater, Thomas Krol, took the silver medal in 1:43.55. 　 　At PyeongChang 2018, Kim also captured the bronze medal to become the first Asian to reach the Olympic podium in

Olympic GamesFeb. 8, 2022

[Reporter’s Notebook] Korean Olympic committee press conference in Beijing a wasted chance

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee’s urgent press conference in Beijing, held to protest biased officiating, fell far short of the goal of raising the issue internationally, if that had been a goal at all. The committee conducted the press conference at the Beijing Olympics Main Media Center on Tuesday. The purpose was to announce its plan to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport concerning refereeing decisions that disqualified two of the country’s short tra

Olympic GamesFeb. 8, 2022

S. Korea to file appeal with top sports tribunal for ‘unfair’ short track refereeing

South Korea is to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) concerning refereeing decisions that disqualified two of the country’s short track speedskaters at Beijing 2022 Monday night. Yoon Hong-geun, president of the Korea Skating Union and the head of South Korea’s athletic delegation, said Tuesday that the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) will appeal with the highest international sports tribunal to “publicize the unfairness” that resul

Olympic GamesFeb. 8, 2022

Amid anger over Olympic short track, Victor An speaks out

Amid South Korean anger over “biased” refereeing toward Chinese competitors at short track speedskating races, a South Korean-born coach of the Chinese team spoke out. In a lengthy message posted on his Instagram in the wee hours of Tuesday, Victor An, who was Ahn Hyun-soo before becoming a naturalized Russian citizen in 2011, pleaded not to attack his family members for his choices and what’s happening in the ongoing Beijing Olympics. A six-time Olympic gold medalist, An j

Olympic GamesFeb. 8, 2022

[BEIJING OLYMPICS] S. Korean official believes short trackers got shortchanged by referee

BEIJING -- The two South Korean short trackers who were penalized in their recent Olympic races in Beijing committed no violations that warranted disqualification, an international referee from the country said Tuesday, adding that the competition at Beijing 2022 has already been marred by bad officiating. Choi Yong-koo, a senior official on the South Korean short track team in Beijing and an International Skating Union (ISU) referee, made those remarks at a press conference held in light of th

Olympic GamesFeb. 8, 2022