The Korea Herald

Speed skater struggles, curlers lose as S. Korea fails to add to medal tally

It was another unproductive day at the Sochi Winter Olympics for South Korea as a speed skating medal hopeful struggled on ice and the women's curling team fell to the top-ranked opponent.Mo Tae-bum finished the men's 1,000 meters in 12th place in 1:09.37, nearly a full second worse than the champion, Stefan Groothuis of the Netherlands. Mo won the silver in the same event four years ago in Vancouver, but walked away without a medal this time.On Monday, he ended the 500ｍ in fourth place, failing

Feb. 13, 2014

Teenage short tracker seeks first Olympic medal

Shim Suk-hee, a 17-year-old short track phenom, will try to win her first Olympic medal in the women's 500 meters on Thursday.Shim, Park Seung-hi and Kim A-lang have reached the quarterfinals in the 500ｍ. The quarters, the semis and the finals will all take place Thursday.Shim has mostly dominated the 1,000ｍ and the 1,500ｍ events this season, while struggling with her starts in the 500ｍ. However, she may have a shot at a medal in the short distance event, too, with Wang Meng of China, the reigni

Feb. 13, 2014

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum finishes 12th in men's 1,000 meters

South Korean speed skater Mo Tae-bum finished 12th in the men's 1,000 meters at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Wednesday.Mo finished the race in 1:09.37, coming up well short of winning his second straight Olympic medal in the distance. At the 2010 Vancouver Games, Mo won the silver medal behind Shani Davis of the United States.This time, Stefan Groothuis of the Netherlands won the gold in 1:08.39, followed by Denny Morrison of Canada and Michel Mulder of the Netherlands.Mo, who bagged two medals

Feb. 13, 2014

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum finishes 12th in men's 1,000 meters

PM likely to attend closing ceremony

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won is likely to attend the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games, officials said Wednesday, following public calls for a top government official to make an appearance at the event.Seoul was reportedly planning to send a vice culture minister to the Feb. 23 closing ceremony but changed its decision amid concerns that it could lose a chance to conduct sports diplomacy, especially as South Korea will be hosting the next Winter Games in its eastern alpine

Feb. 12, 2014

Women's curling team falls to Sweden

The South Korean women's curling team lost to Sweden 7-4 in their round robin match at the Sochi Winter Games on Wednesday.South Korea's record dropped to 1-2 in the round robin play in its first Olympic tournament. Led by skip Kim Ji-sun, the team of Shin Mi-sung, Gim Un-chi, Lee Seul-bee and Um Min-ji beat Japan 12-7 in their first Olympic match on Tuesday, but lost to Switzerland later Tuesday and then to the world No. 1 Sweden.South Korea, at No. 10 in the world, is the lowest-ranked partici

Feb. 12, 2014

[Newsmaker] ‘Bolt on ice’ defends title

Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa was labeled “Usain Bolt of the ice track” on Tuesday as she successfully defended her Olympic title for the women’s 500 meters to earn Korea’s first gold in Sochi.Lee not only won the gold, but broke the Olympic record while doing so.The 25-year-old Korean skater displayed a true champion’s class and composure at Adler Arena, maintaining the lead during the entire race.Lee, who competed in the last and 18th pair, showed promise right from the get-go.She began the first

Feb. 12, 2014

Kim Yu-na confident ahead of title defense

Korea’s reigning Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na brushed off the threat to her title from teenage Russian prodigy Julia Lipnitskaia as she left Seoul Wednesday for the 2014 Games.The 15-year-old Lipnitskaia became the youngest female figure skater in 78 years to win a gold medal after helping the Olympic host nation seal the inaugural team title in Sochi.Now she has her eyes set firmly on preventing Kim becoming only the third women ever to win back-to-back figure skating golds.Speakin

Feb. 12, 2014

Kim Yu-na confident ahead of title defense

Outdoor Olympic athletes adjusting to warm weather

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) ― Cross-country skiers are looking for precisely the right wax to cut through the mush. Jumpers are trying to land in snow that’s way too soft. Freestyle skiers and snowboarders are bailing out of their best tricks on courses that, even way up on the mountain, are melting under the Sochi sun.Temperatures climbed well above 10 degrees Celsius even on the Sochi Games’ highest hills, exposing huge patches of green around the mountain venues. If it wasn’t clear with the

Feb. 12, 2014

Geisenberger wins luge gold medal

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) ― Finally, Olympic gold for Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger.Finally, Olympic anything for Erin Hamlin and the United States.Leaving no doubt she absolutely rules her sport, Geisenberger won the women’s luge gold medal Tuesday at the Sochi Games ― posting the second-largest victory margin in Olympic history. Her final time was 3 minutes, 19.768 seconds, or 1.139 seconds better than silver medalist German teammate Tatjana Huefner, the 2010 champion.“Runs one, two and t

Feb. 12, 2014

Lee Sang-hwa basks in media spotlight after her impressive race

Korean speed skater Lee Sang-hwa basked in the spotlight from world media after she captured the nation’s first gold medal in the women’s 500 meter race during the Sochi Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday.Some foreign news outlets said the race was “dominated by Lee,” a two-time gold medalist.The U.S. daily Washington Post likened Lee to Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history. “What Lee is doing in women’s speed skating, at least in the 500-meter sprint, is the same thing Usain Bold has done in t

Feb. 12, 2014

Lee Sang-hwa basks in media spotlight after her impressive race

Viktor Ahn in Sochi spotlight for ‘defection’ to Russia　

Formerly known as Ahn Hyun-soo, Korean-turned-Russian short track speed skating star Viktor Ahn earned his adopted homeland a bronze medal in the men’s 1,500 meters at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Monday. The medal is hailed as “historic” in Russia, as it is the host nation’s first Olympic medal in the unpredictable, high-speed sport. Right after the race, Ahn held the press conference and revealed the story behind his decision to change his nationality. The former Olympic champion, who had avoi

Feb. 12, 2014

Viktor Ahn in Sochi spotlight for ‘defection’ to Russia

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum seeks redemption

Speed skater Mo Tae-bum, who finished fourth in the men's 500 meters on Monday, will seek to redeem himself in the 1,000ｍ on Wednesday.He won the silver in the 1,000ｍ in Vancouver four years ago, behind the American star Shani Davis.Mo came up short in his Olympic title defense in the 500ｍ on Monday, as a trio of Dutch skaters swept the podium, led by the champ Michel Mulder.The women's curling team, making the Olympic debut, will play its third round robin match against Sweden. Cho Jung-myung a

Feb. 12, 2014

(Medal standing) Korea ranks 10th

As of Wednesday morning (Korean time), South Korea ranked 10th in the medal standing for the Sochi Winter Olympics.Below are the medal standings at the Sochi Winter Olympics Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Norway 4 3 4 11 2 Canada 4 3 2 9 3 Germany 4 1 0 5 4 Netherlands 3 2 3 8 5 United States 2 1

Feb. 12, 2014

Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa wins gold in women's 500m

South Korean speed skater Lee Sang-hwa captured the gold medal in the women's 500 meters on Tuesday at the Sochi Winter Games, putting together two blistering races to successfully defend her Olympic title.In the two-race competition at Adler Arena Skating Center, Lee had a combined time of 74.70 seconds, a new Olympic record and 0.36 second faster than the runner-up, Olga Fatkulina of Russia. Margot Boer of the Netherlands took the bronze in 75.48 seconds combined.After ranking first in the ope

Feb. 12, 2014

Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa wins gold in women's 500m

Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa poised for gold in women's 500 meters

South Korean speed skater Lee Sang-hwa put herself in prime position to claim her second straight Olympic gold in the women's 500 meters after Tuesday's opening race at the Sochi Winter Games.Lee posted the fastest time in the first of the two races with 37.42 seconds, 0.15 second ahead of Olga Fatkulina of Russia.The next races will start at 6:34 p.m. here (11:34 p.m. in South Korea), and the combined time will determine the champion.Lee, the 500ｍ world record holder with 36.36 seconds, was gro

Feb. 11, 2014

Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa poised for gold in women's 500 meters

[Newsmaker] Champ Kim Yu-na has Russian competition

Tension is building between Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na and the much praised Russian prodigy Julia Lipnitskaia with the individual event just over one week away.The Vancouver Olympics gold medalist and record holder, also known as Queen Yu-na at home, is determined to defend her title against the younger Lipnitskaia, who was the driving force behind Russia’s first gold medal of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in team figure skating.Born on June 5, 1998, in Yekaterinburg, Lipnitskaia

Feb. 11, 2014

[Newsmaker] Champ Kim Yu-na has Russian competition

[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

Feb. 11, 2014

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

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

Feb. 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

Feb. 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,

Feb. 11, 2014