By Hur SomEe and Yoon Sojung
Photos = Yonhap News

The Korean male speed skaters earned a silver medal in the men’s team pursuit final of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 21. This is the team's second silver in the event, after placing second in the race in Sochi.

The Korean team, composed of Lee Seung-Hoon, Kim Min Seok and Chung Jaewon, won the silver medal with a record of 3:38:52. The Norwegian team took the gold medal with a time of 3:37:32, while Netherlands won the bronze.

Led by Lee, the Korean team took the lead until the first four laps, outperforming Norway by 0.09 seconds.

Starting in the fifth lap, however, the Norwegian team overtook the Koreans, running 0.1 seconds faster than the Korean team. The gap between the Korean and Norwegian team got wider later in the race, and Korea finished the race 1.20 seconds after Team Norway.




After the race, Lee said, “I was able to do my best at the end of the race, as many people cheered us,” while vowing to do his utmost in the men’s mass start event.

Lee also expressed his expectations for his team mates Kim and Chung, saying that, “I want to thank the two, as they supported me so well. I'm sure they will become better athletes to lead the team in the future.”

Thanks to this latest race, Lee has gotten his fourth Olympic medal. He won a silver in the men’s 5,000 m and a gold in the 10,000 m in Vancouver and a silver in the men’s team pursuit in 2014 in Sochi.

Kim has now gotten his second Olympic medal. He won his first Olympic medal in the men’s 1,500 m race on Feb. 13.

sehp91@korea.kr