Short Track Team Mines for Gold in Italy

Korean men`s short track team attending the 21st Winter Universiade won the country`s first short track gold medal.

Song Gyeong-taek topped the men`s 1500m final held in Pian Cabalo Ice Link in Italy on Jan. 24. Song finished at 2 minutes 23.943 seconds, outpacing Canadian runner-up Marc-Andre Monette by 0.23 seconds.

Song took the lead right after the start while Italian and Chinese players almost falling over after a collision. The 20-year-old Korean short tracker, 1.78m tall and weighing 69kg, has been drawing the spotlight since he won a gold in the men`s 1500m at the 2001 Asian Short Track Championships.

Lee Jae-kyung picked up the bronze as Italian skater Franceschina Nicola, who finished third, was disqualified.

In women`s 1500m final, Kim Hye-gyeong, Gwon Da-young and Kim Ju-yeon finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, yielding their way to tricky Chinese rivals.

In curling, the South Korean men’s team captured the bronze medal defeating Great Britain 6-4 after a 5-4 loss to the world champion Swiss team, marking the first medal-winning in an international competition.

With the medals, Korean students are tied with Japan in third place with 3 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronzes trailing only Russia (7 golds, 7 silvers and 7 bronzes) and Ukraine (4 golds, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes).

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com