Speed Skating Star Baek Returns

Korean ice-skating beauty Baek Eun-bi (28, Chuncheon City) has been a pillar of Korean women’s speed-skating ever since she joined the national team when she was a freshman at Shinsa Middle School.

Four Year Slump After Winning First Medal For Korea-

Baek Eun-bi is competing in her fifth Winter Asian Games. She has competed in the games since 1990, and her most memorable competition was four years ago at the Fifth Aomori Winter Asian Games. She had long dominated the 1,500m and 3,000m events in national games, but had less luck, with no medals, in international competitions. But at the Aomori Games, Baek claimed the first medal on the team by winning a silver in the 3,000m race, and then added a bronze medal in the 1,500m competition.

“I felt the most fulfillment at Aomori. It was as if all my hard work had been rewarded,” she said.

However, shortly after winning the medals, Baek tested positive in a drug test. There was talk of taking away her medal, but it was ruled that close examination results showed peptic elements and not elements of prohibited drugs.

After Aomori, Baek Eun-bi became a star with five fan websites, but this was short-lived. Moreover, Baek performed poorly in following meets, and on top of everything, she suffered an injury, causing a serious slump. She was also not able to participate in the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, which she had longed to take part in. This was because two days before the opening ceremony, the organizing committee suddenly decided to raise the 1,500m qualification criteria by 2.5 seconds, leaving Baek Eun-bi short by 0.5 second and unqualified to skate in the race.

“It was a shock. It made me feel like all the hard work I had put in had just gone down the drain, and I didn’t have any desire to compete any more. I’d been receiving treatment since 2005 after injuring my Achilles’ tendon, and with my immune system down as well, my condition was just terrible,” she said.

In May last year, Baek’s father suddenly passed away. With such hardships overlapping, Baek lost the desire to compete. But later, it occurred to her that, “If I go on like this, it would be the end of my career.”

Return To National Team-

After dropping out of the national team, Baek Eun-bi started personal training on her own, and at the national team selection trials in December, she made her comeback.

“I think this competition will be the last one that I take part in as a national team member. Every time I skated in a match, my desire to win prevented me from showing all the skills that I have, but at this competition I’m going to relax.”

Baek Eun-bi will be competing for a medal in the 1,500m race on January 31.

kimsk@donga.com