“1000m Is Korea’s Field of Gold”

February 17th is the day for both speed skating and men`s short-track 1000m events at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. Korea’s two stars, Lee Kyu-Hyuk (24, Chunchon City Office) and Kim Dong-Sung (22, Korea Univ.) are aiming for gold together.

The 1000m event in both sports are Korea`s traditionally strong event. In the speeding skating 1000m event in the 1992 Albertville Olympics, Kim Yoon-Man won the silver medal for the first time in the history of Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics. The short-track 1000m event is a `field of gold` in which Kim Gi-Hun (1994 Lillehammer) and Kim Dong-Sung (1998 Nagano) won consecutive gold medals. That is why the Korean team is expecting news of victory from the two events that will take place with a 5-hour difference on the 17th.

The prospects are quite positive. Lee Kyu-Hyuk unexpectedly broke the Korean record in the speed skating 500m event with 34 seconds 74 and won the 5th position. He says that he is `feeling too good`.

His priority in the Olympics is to maximize his physical condition on the days of the events. Such intention comes from his experience of `trial and error` during the 1998 Nagano games. Lee failed to win a medal in 1998 because his condition was at its peak a month before the actual competition and soon reached a plateau. He is avoiding press interviews during this Olympics in order not to lose his concentration.

Lee’s specialty is long-distance, and his best record in 1000m is 1 minute 08 seconds 61. It is the record set at the Salt Lake Oval Stadium, where the Olympic is currently taking place. World’s top record-holder, Jeremy Wotherspoon (Netherlands, 1 minute 07 seconds 72), is 0.89 seconds ahead. However, Wotherspoon is swaying since his disqualifying false-start in the 500m event, so Lee certainly has a chance.

Short-track ace Kim Dong-Sung is also hopeful about gaining a victory. Kim, world’s top-ranked in the sport, confirmed his talent during the 1000m preliminary on the 14th, in which he overran U.S.A.’s Apolo Anton Ohno to claim the gold medal. Ohno is not a strong rival if Kim demonstrates his normal capacity, but the U.S. fans’ one-sided support and Ohno’s provocative nerve-fight is the `variable`.Therefore, the key factor is not to get entangled in the nerve-fight, and to remain calm.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com