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Lee’s race selected as one of most dramatic finishes in Beijing

Lee’s race selected as one of most dramatic finishes in Beijing

Posted February. 22, 2022 07:46,   

Updated February. 22, 2022 07:46

한국어

The men’s mass start in speed skating at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, in which a South Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon who won bronze, was selected as one of the most dramatic finished at the Olympics.

NBC selected on Sunday the eight most dramatic finishes for the Olympics, introducing the men’s mass start in speed skating as the fifth one.

According to the official timekeeper of the Olympics, Omega, Lee beat Joey Mantia of the U.S. by 0.002 seconds and won third place in the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Saturday. Even a photo finish makes it hard to determine who passed the finish line first. Even on the official Olympic website, the records of the race are only displayed up to two decimal places so the two skaters’ records look the same at 7:47:20.

 

As he won bronze with an extremely close finish, Lee became the South Korean athlete who has won the most medals in the Beijing Olympics with three golds, two silvers, and one bronze. Mantia complained that it felt like Lee pulled him after the race but added that it seemed like it wasn’t intentional and it was also part of a race. U.S. coaches also complained but it was not accepted.

The 2,000-meter short track mixed team relay, which the Chinese team won by 0.016 seconds, was also named on the list. The controversial judgment that let the Chinese team to move to the final even though the skaters didn’t make contact to switch places in the semi-final was not mentioned. Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee who made a series of mistakes in the women’s single figure skating and was ranked in the fourth position amid the doping issues was also included on the list.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com