South Korean speed skater Lee Sang-hwa has broken her own world record in the women’s 500 meters.

Lee claimed the 500 m race in 36.74 seconds at the first leg of the International Skating Union Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary, Canada on Saturday, improving her previous world record by 0.06 second.

The 24-year-old had won a World Cup event in January this year in the then-world mark of 36.80 seconds, also in Calgary.

She also won the opening 500 m race in the Canadian city on Friday in 36.91 seconds.

The latest victory bolstered Lee’s hopes of repeating as the Olympic champion at the Sochi Winter Games in February next year.

She won the 500 m gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, becoming the first South Korean woman to win a speed skating Olympic gold.

She dominated the 500 m during the previous World Cup season from November 2012 to March this year, winning nine races en route to capturing the overall title.

In World Cup events, skaters earn 100 points for each win and 150 points for a victory at the season-ending World Cup final. (Yonhap News)