Speed Skaters Win Gold Medals

Choi Keun-won (Uijeongbu City Office), a speed skating national team member, is not giving up despite failing to claim a medal in the Asian Games three consecutive times.

On February 23, the third day of the 88th National Winter Sports Festival held at the Taereung International Skating Rink, he won the men’s 3200m relay on a team with Mun Joon (Seongnam City Office) and Lee Jong-woo (Uijeongbu City Office). Finishing the race in 4:41:17, Choi won another gold medal after also completing two record wins in the men’s 5000m and 10,000m events.

A promising figure in long-distance speed skating, Choi has not yet won a medal at an international competition. Finishing the men’s 5000m event in fourth place in a time of 6:43:86 at the 2007 Asian Winter Games in Changchun, China, last month, he had to watch his teammate Yeo Sang-yeop (Korea National Sport University) receive a silver medal.

“I sped over my pace at the beginning and was out of energy at the finish. But I have shortened my 5000m record by 30 seconds in the past two years. I’ll continue to challenge myself,” he said.

Park Seung-hui (Bundang Seohyeon Middle) claimed a gold medal in the middle school girls’ 500m event held at the Goyang Eoulimnuri indoor ice rink. It was her second win following her win in the 1500m event.

Park Je-eon (Doam Middle), who won three gold medals and MVP last time, claimed four gold medals in the middle school boys’ cross country events. There were a total of four cross country players who won four gold medals on the same day, including Lee Chae-won (Gangwon Land), a leading star of women’s cross country.

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