The Korea Herald

소아쌤

Teenage short tracker seeks first Olympic medal

By 신용배

Published : Feb. 13, 2014 - 08:53

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Shim Suk-hee, a 17-year-old short track phenom, will try to win her first Olympic medal in the women's 500 meters on Thursday.

Shim, Park Seung-hi and Kim A-lang have reached the quarterfinals in the 500m. The quarters, the semis and the finals will all take place Thursday.

Shim has mostly dominated the 1,000m and the 1,500m events this season, while struggling with her starts in the 500m. However, she may have a shot at a medal in the short distance event, too, with Wang Meng of China, the reigning Olympic champ and world record holder in the 500m, missing from Sochi with a broken foot.

On the men's side, Lee Han-bin and Sin Da-woon will enter the heats for the 1,000m and later the semifinals for the 5,000m relay.

In the 1,500m on Monday, Sin crashed out of the semifinals and inadvertently tripped up Lee in the process. Judges granted Lee a chance to compete in the final, where he only managed to finish in sixth.

Also on the ice, speed skater Lee Sang-hwa, the women's 500m champion, will take part in the 1,000m, though she isn't a major threat in the longer distance.

The following is the list of events for South Korean athletes on Thursday. All times are local.

- Biathlon (Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Center) Men's 20㎞ individual (6 p.m.)

- Cross-country (Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Center) Ladies' 10㎞ classic (2 p.m.)

- Curling (Ice Cube Curling Center)

Women's round robin match vs. Russia (7 p.m.)

- Luge (Sanki Sliding Center)

Team relay (8:15 p.m.)

- Short track speed skating (Iceberg Skating Palace) Ladies' 500m quarterfinals (2 p.m.) Men's 1,000m heats (2:27 p.m.) Ladies' 500m semifinals (3:14 p.m.) Men's 5,000m relay semifinals (3:35 p.m.) Ladies' 500m finals (4:07 p.m.)

- Speed skating (Adler Arena Skating Center) Ladies' 1,000m (6 p.m.)

(Yonhap)