HARBIN, Northeast China, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China
rested a duo of established skaters but still made it even in medal collection
against South Korea, as the Harbin Universiade speed skating competitions
resumed Tuesday after a one-day break.
Without the host's top sprinter Yu Fengtong in the
start list, the South Koreans dominated the men's 1,000 meters as Mo Tae Bum
clocked one minute and 10.05 seconds to crown in the 37-man final and Lee Kang
Seok took the bronze after timing 1:10.79.
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Mo Tae Bum (C) of South Korea takes a
photo with his compatriot Lee Kang Seok (R) and Polish Konrad Niedzwiedzki
during the awarding ceremony for the men's 1000m final of speed skating in
the 24th Winter Universiade at Heilongjiang Speed Skating Gym in Harbin,
capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 24, 2009. Mo Tae
Bum won the title with 1:10.05. Konrad Niedzwiedzki and Lee Kang Seok took
the silver and bronze respectively. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>> |
The silver went to Konrad Niedzwiedzki, the 1,500m
runner-up edged by Mo by just 0.10 seconds four days ago, as the Polish narrowly
beat Lee on 1:10.42 after pairing the Korean on the track.
Later in the women's 5,000 meters, China's Dong
Feifei and Fu Chunyan repeated their podium performance in last Saturday's
3,000mto finish 1-2 in the longest course of the long track speed skating
events.
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Gold medalist China's Dong Feifei (C)
and her teammate silver medalist Fu Chunyan (L) and bronze medalist
Poland's Luiza Zlotkowska pose for group pictures during the awarding
ceremony for women's 5000m of speed skating in the 24th World Winter
Universiade at Heilongjiang Speed Skating Gym in Harbin, capital of
northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 24, 2009. (Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>> |
The double winner of the 1,500 and 3,000 meters, Dong, finished in seven minutes and 19.76 seconds for the title, while fellow Chinese Fu Chunyan, who won the first speed skating gold for China on Saturday, took the silver medal with a time of 7:20.38.
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China's Dong Feifei competes during the women's 5000m final of speed skating in the 24th World Winter Universiade at Heilongjiang Speed Skating Gym in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 24, 2009. Dong won the gold with 7 minutes 19.76 seconds. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>> |
Luiza Zlotkowska of Poland, who raced the final
pairing Fu on the track, was beaten to the third place on 7:20.43, narrowly
missing a better place.
China's No. 1 speed skating sprinter Yu has been
forced to quit the men's 1,000m race due to a strained right leg, while on the
women's part, Ji Jia also opted to skip the 5,000m final for a better
preparation for Thursday's team pursuit.
On Yu's absence, the hosts' best result of the men's
mid-distance final on Tuesday came from Zhang Zhongqi, who finished sixth after
timing 1:11.52, while Zhao Yaolin sat on the 10th on 1:11.97 and Liu Fangyi was
a distant 23rd with a time of 1:14.14.
It's the first time for the Universiade speed skating
that no record has been refreshed on a competitive day.
With Tuesday's victory, Mo has added a second gold
medal to his Universiade collection after having lifted the 1,500m trophy on
Sunday and claimed the 500m bronze last Thursday.
Mo's result, however, is still seconds short of the
Universiade record of 1:09.68.
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Mo Tae Bum of South Korea competes
during the men's 1000m final of speed skating in the 24th Winter
Universiade at Heilongjiang Speed Skating Gym in Harbin, capital of
northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 24, 2009. Mo Tae Bum won the
title with 1:10.05. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>> |
"I committed an error but was just lucky enough to
win the gold with such a time," said the 20-year-old Mo, who stumbled a little
in one of the curves of the two and a half ovals race.
"If there's not the error, I could definitely run in
one minute and 9 plus seconds," added the junior of the Korean Sport University
who was the third placer at both men's 500m and 1,000m in the 2007 Turin
Universiade.
Mo's personal best is around 1:09.50, which could
have sent him among the top 15 in Turin Winter Olympic Games' men's 1,000
meters, and the young skater said that he eyes on entering the top 10 in next
year's Olympics in Vancouver.
The discipline is not what Lee Kang Seok puts most of
his effort on and a bronze medal has been something beyond his expectation.
"I just wanted to attend more competitions to improve myself and the bronze medal is an extra reward for me, which made me more confident ahead of next month's World Championships," said Lee, a double winner in both the 500m and the 100m sprint.