By Min Yea-Ji and Lee Hana
Photos = Yonhap News

Team Korea's Cha Min Kyu missed a gold medal by 0.01 s in the men's speed skating 500 m race at the PyeongChang Olympics. Deservingly, he claimed a precious silver medal for the Olympic host country.

Cha raced in the outside lane in the 14th group at the Gangneung Oval on Feb. 19. He was off to a slow start, passing the 100 m mark in ninth place at 9.63 s, but then the former short track speed skater cornered the race in perfect form and finished in a time of 34.42 s.

Cha, who had been setting an Olympic record up to that point, raised his fist after checking the scoreboard, hopeful for a gold. Just a few minutes later, however, Norway's Havard Lorentzen outperformed Cha by 0.01 s, and claimed the gold with the new Olympic record.



Following the race, Cha said, "I'm so happy, I'm speechless. I can't believe I made it into the top three. My goal was to do just that, and I'm thrilled that my dream came true."

"I have another race coming up, so please stay tuned and cheer for Team Korea," he said.

Cha will compete in the men's 1,000 m speed skating event on Feb. 23, his eyes set on another medal.

jesimin@korea.kr