[BEIJING OLYMPICS] S. Korea captures silver in men’s short track relay

BEIJING -- South Korea grabbed silver in the men‘s 5,000m short track speed skating relay at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday for its first medal in the event since 2010.

The quartet of Hwang Dae-heon, Kwak Yoon-gy, Park Jang-hyuk and Lee June-seo finished in second place behind Canada in the 45-lap race at Capital Indoor Stadium.

Canada finished in 6:41.257, while South Korea ended in 6:41.679. Italy got the bronze in 6:43.431.

South Korea led the way for most of the race before Canada charged out in front with 18 laps remaining and staying there the rest of the way.

This was the second medal in Beijing for Hwang, the 1,500m champion.

Kwak, who helped South Korea to the relay silver 12 years ago, claimed his second career relay medal in what was his last Olympics.

For Park and Lee, the two Olympic debutants, this is their first medal. Kim Dong-wook, who participated in the semifinals but sat out the final, will also receive his silver medal. This, too, is his first Olympic medal.

South Korea took the lead from the start and stayed there for the first half of the race. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Canada, Italy and China were all bunched up in a battle too close to call.

Canada then moved to second place with 20 laps left, and then Pascal Dion zipped past Lee in Lap 28 to give Canada the lead that it never relinquished.

China was trying to make a move from behind, but one of its skaters lost his balance and nearly fell with 11 laps remaining.

Canada opened a sizable gap over South Korea. Lee June-seo tried to bring South Korea closer but slipped up a bit on a corner.

It came down to Steven Dubois versus Kwak over the final two laps, with everyone else battling for bronze. Dubois had plenty of room between himself and the South Korean, and Kwak’s valiant charge came up just short. (Yonhap)