Lee Sang-Hwa
Encyclopedia
Lee Sang-Hwa is a South Korea
n long track speed skater
who specialises in the sprint distances. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a World Championships
medalist on the 500 metres, and on this distance she has also placed in the top three in World Cup events four times. Her first World Cup victory, however, came on the non-Olympic distance 100 metres. On the 1,000 metres, however, she has never been better than eighth in international events.
Lee is remembered by her school teachers as a smart and active student. Lee and Mo Tae-Bum
, gold medalist at Vancouver 2010 are close friends since their elementary school period. Along with him, Lee is currently attending Korea National Sport University.
championship was in Roseville, Minnesota
during the 2004 World Junior Championships
. As the youngest participant, she finished 16th, though she took third place on the 500 metres 0.45 seconds behind world junior record holder Shannon Rempel
.
The following season, she raced 38.77 in test races in Calgary, and was selected for the World Cup
races in Nagano, Harbin
and Calgary
. She placed eighth in her first race, recording 38.71 in the M-Wave
, Nagano, 0.29 seconds behind winner Wang Manli
. She finished in the top ten a further five times that season, including two fourth-place finishes in 100 metre sprints, which gave her fifth place overall in the 100 metre World Cup. In other achievements, she won two senior Korean titles (on 2 × 500 metres and sprint, and came 14th in the 500 metres World Cup standings, 16th in the 1000 metres, and 15th in the samalog
standings in the World Sprint Championships
, though she was within half a second of the winner on both 500 metre races, finishing 9th and 12th.
In World Championships, Lee won three medals this season; two in the junior championships, where she won bronze in the overall standings, though she was four points after the winner after 16th place on the 1500 and 19th on the 3000 metre event, and silver with the Korean team in the team pursuit event. And during the World Single Distance Championships in Inzell in March, two fourth-places were enough to take her to third place overall in the 500 metre competition, behind Chinese skaters Wang Manli
and Wang Beixing
.
In 2006, Lee improved on the 100 and 500 metres, though she fell into the B division on the 1000 metres. She finished on the World Cup podium four times during the season, including a win in the 100 metre World Cup final, though she finished behind Jenny Wolf
in the overall standings. On the 500 metres, she was sixth in the World Cup. She also added three senior Korean titles to her record, winning the 500 metres, 1000 metres, and overall sprint championship. During the season, she registered a world junior record on the 500 metres, with a time of 37.90 in Utah Olympic Oval
. She failed to improve on her 1000 metre time from last season, however.
The Turin Olympics
ended with fifth place for Lee, despite her third-best second run which wasn't enough to lift her up more than one place. Earlier, she had finished 19th on the 1000 metres and 12th in the World Sprint Championships.
The 2007 season
has seen further improvement for Lee. She is yet to finish outside the top two, and after three of 12 races she heads the overall standings on the 500 metres. She has also improved on the 1000 metres, and became 11th in the overall standings, with eighth place in Heerenveen as the best result.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics she won the Gold medal in the 500 metres.
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n long track speed skater
Long track speed skating
Speed skating is an Olympic sport where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating...
who specialises in the sprint distances. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a World Championships
World Single Distance Championships
The World Single Distance Championships are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union.-History:Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple distances – four different distances for the allround...
medalist on the 500 metres, and on this distance she has also placed in the top three in World Cup events four times. Her first World Cup victory, however, came on the non-Olympic distance 100 metres. On the 1,000 metres, however, she has never been better than eighth in international events.
Early life and education
Lee Sang-Hwa was born to father Lee U-geun, a technician at Hwigyeong Girls School and mother Kim In-sun in 1989. Lee has an older brother, Lee Sang-jun to have been a skater. When she was in her first grade at Eunseok Elementary School, Lee started skating to keep up with her brother. Although Lee's brother excelled at skating and won a skating competition held in his elementary school, Lee appeared to have more talents in skating than him. Since their parents could not afford to support the extra activity of their children together, only Lee could continue skating.Lee is remembered by her school teachers as a smart and active student. Lee and Mo Tae-Bum
Mo Tae-Bum
Mo Tae-Bum is a South Korean speed skater. He started speedskating while in the third grade. Prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Mo won two distances at the 2006 World Junior Speed Skating Championships...
, gold medalist at Vancouver 2010 are close friends since their elementary school period. Along with him, Lee is currently attending Korea National Sport University.
Career
Lee first competed internationally aged 14 in Canada, where she skated several test races in October 2003, winning comfortably and skating with a best time of 39.02 seconds. At the time, the U19 world record was 38.53. Her first ISUInternational Skating Union
The International Skating Union is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands in 1892, making it one of the oldest international...
championship was in Roseville, Minnesota
Roseville, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,690 people, 14,598 households, and 8,598 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,543.9 people per square mile . There were 14,917 housing units at an average density of 1,126.4 per square mile...
during the 2004 World Junior Championships
World Junior Speed Skating Championships
||valign=top width=50%|In 1971, when the ISU had a congress they decided to hold a World Junior Speed Skating Championships. After 2 test-championships , where only boys where allowed to skate, the first official championship was introduced in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In this championship boys and girls...
. As the youngest participant, she finished 16th, though she took third place on the 500 metres 0.45 seconds behind world junior record holder Shannon Rempel
Shannon Rempel
Shannon Rempel is a Canadian speed skater. Most notably, Rempel is known for her win as the 2003 World Junior Speed Skating Championships and participation in the 2006 Winter Olympics which won her team a silver in the team pursuit.Rempel was a silver medalist in the 1000m at the 2004 World Cup in...
.
The following season, she raced 38.77 in test races in Calgary, and was selected for the World Cup
Speed Skating World Cup
The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter, a number of competitions on a number of different distances are held...
races in Nagano, Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
and Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. She placed eighth in her first race, recording 38.71 in the M-Wave
M-Wave
is an indoor sporting arena located in Nagano, Japan.Opened in 1996, the arena has a capacity of 10,000. It hosted the speed skating events of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The M-Wave is equipped with movable stands and an automatically winding artificial lawn machine...
, Nagano, 0.29 seconds behind winner Wang Manli
Wang Manli
Wang Manli is a Chinese ice speed skater who won a silver medal in the Women's 500 m at the 2006 Winter Olympics.-References:*...
. She finished in the top ten a further five times that season, including two fourth-place finishes in 100 metre sprints, which gave her fifth place overall in the 100 metre World Cup. In other achievements, she won two senior Korean titles (on 2 × 500 metres and sprint, and came 14th in the 500 metres World Cup standings, 16th in the 1000 metres, and 15th in the samalog
Samalog
Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion...
standings in the World Sprint Championships
World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Women
The International Skating Union has organised the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1970. The first two years , they were called the ISU Sprint Championships.-Medal winners:-All-time medal count:- References :*...
, though she was within half a second of the winner on both 500 metre races, finishing 9th and 12th.
In World Championships, Lee won three medals this season; two in the junior championships, where she won bronze in the overall standings, though she was four points after the winner after 16th place on the 1500 and 19th on the 3000 metre event, and silver with the Korean team in the team pursuit event. And during the World Single Distance Championships in Inzell in March, two fourth-places were enough to take her to third place overall in the 500 metre competition, behind Chinese skaters Wang Manli
Wang Manli
Wang Manli is a Chinese ice speed skater who won a silver medal in the Women's 500 m at the 2006 Winter Olympics.-References:*...
and Wang Beixing
Wang Beixing
Wang Beixing is a Chinese long track speed skater, specializing in short distances . She is coached by Canadian former skater Kevin Crockett.Wang Beixing first competed in 2003...
.
In 2006, Lee improved on the 100 and 500 metres, though she fell into the B division on the 1000 metres. She finished on the World Cup podium four times during the season, including a win in the 100 metre World Cup final, though she finished behind Jenny Wolf
Jenny Wolf
Jenny Wolf is a German ice speed skater who is the current world record holder, at 37.00 seconds, for the women's 500 m and, 74.42 seconds for women's 500 m x 2 in long track speed skating...
in the overall standings. On the 500 metres, she was sixth in the World Cup. She also added three senior Korean titles to her record, winning the 500 metres, 1000 metres, and overall sprint championship. During the season, she registered a world junior record on the 500 metres, with a time of 37.90 in Utah Olympic Oval
Utah Olympic Oval
The Utah Olympic Oval, an indoor speed skating oval built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, is located southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400-meter skating track surrounds two international sized...
. She failed to improve on her 1000 metre time from last season, however.
The Turin Olympics
Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics, was held over ten days, from 11 February to 21 February. Twelve events were contested at the Oval Lingotto.-Medal table:-Men's events:* Skaters who did not participate in the final, but received medals....
ended with fifth place for Lee, despite her third-best second run which wasn't enough to lift her up more than one place. Earlier, she had finished 19th on the 1000 metres and 12th in the World Sprint Championships.
The 2007 season
2007 in speed skating
The year 2007 in speed skating also includes events in the autumn of 2006, since they belong to the same long track speed skating season.-Chronology:...
has seen further improvement for Lee. She is yet to finish outside the top two, and after three of 12 races she heads the overall standings on the 500 metres. She has also improved on the 1000 metres, and became 11th in the overall standings, with eighth place in Heerenveen as the best result.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics she won the Gold medal in the 500 metres.
Personal bests
| Distance | Time | Venue | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 10.46 | Thialf Thialf Thialf is an ice arena in Heerenveen, Netherlands. The stadium is used for long track speed skating, short track speed skating, ice hockey, figure skating, and non-sports events. The outdoor rink was opened in 1967, and the indoor stadium was opened in 1986. Several world records were set in the... |
6 March 2005 | World Cup final |
| 500 m | 37.24 | Utah Olympic Oval Utah Olympic Oval The Utah Olympic Oval, an indoor speed skating oval built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, is located southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400-meter skating track surrounds two international sized... |
11 December 2009 | World Cup |
| 1000 m | 1:15.26 | Utah Olympic Oval Utah Olympic Oval The Utah Olympic Oval, an indoor speed skating oval built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, is located southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400-meter skating track surrounds two international sized... |
13 December 2009 | World Cup |