Koreas Short Track Outlook Bright
Korea is not only the current leader in short track speed skating, but the future looks bright as well. The reason lies in the fact that junior athletes have been dominating the tracks as the worlds greatest speed skaters for more than ten years.
The 2007 International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championship (participants must be over 14 and under 19 years of age as of July 1 of 2006) held in the Czech Republics city of Mlada Boleslav came to a close on January 15 with Korean players taking center stage. Korea raked in nine out of the ten gold medals in the whole championship.
Ladies swept medals from the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 1500m super finals and the 2000m relay. Korea claimed gold in all events but the mens 500m race, in which Shin Woo-chul (Age 20, Korea National Sport University) won the bronze medal.
Yang Shin-young (Age 17, Bundang High School), who is noted as the next generation ladies ace, managed to beat the national teams youngest Park Seung-hi (Age 15, Seohyun Middle School) by just a whisker in the 1000m finals and 1500m finals, which made her the winner of four gold medals, including her medals from the 2000m and 1000m relay.
Park Seung-hi won one gold medal in the relay, and two silver medals and a bronze medal in the individual races. Shin Sae-bom (Age 15, Kwachon Middle School), who encouraged the team by winning in the 500m race the day before, also won two gold medals and one silver. All three players that participated in the championship were rewarded with a handful of medals.
In the mens field, Lee Jung-su (Age 18, Kwangmoon High School) won in the 1500m race and then beat Shin Woo-chul in the 1500m super finals to claim a triple crown, including his gold medal from the 2000m relay. Shin Woo-chul overthrew Jang Won-hoon (Age 19, Kyunggi High School) in the 1000m finals and won the gold medal.
It is not a recent affair that Koreas junior short track speed skating is at the worlds top. According to the Korea Skating Union, Korea has ruled over this championship every year starting from 1994. In 2003 and 2004, they dominated all ten events.
Korea National Sport University Coach Chun Myung-kyu suggested that the reason Koreas junior short track speed skating is at the worlds best is because the shift in generations is quick compared to other sports, and a large number of former national team representatives are teaching as coaches. Coach Chun said, Junior athletes have a solid foundation because from when they start to learn they are taught by coaches that have great experience in international competitions.
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