Lee Seung-hoon sets nat'l record, wins bronze at Speed Skating World Cup

South Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon set the national record en route to a third-place finish in the men's 5,000 meters at the Speed Skating World Cup in Canada on Sunday.

Lee finished third in 6:07.04, 2.58 seconds behind the champ Sven Kramer of the Netherlands, in the opening leg of the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup series in Calgary.

Another Dutchman, Jorrit Bergsma, took second place in 6:06.93.

Lee improved his own South Korean record by a whopping 7.63 seconds. He'd established the previous mark at a World Cup race four years ago in Salt Lake City.

This was Lee's first podium finish in a 5,000ｍ World Cup race in three years.

The 25-year-old won the gold medal in the 10,000ｍ and added a silver in the 5,000ｍ at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The former short tracker will be looking to return to the podium in both events at the Sochi Winter Olympics next February.

Also in the men's competition on Sunday, Mo Tae-bum captured his second straight silver in the 500ｍ.

In the second 500ｍ final, he finished in 34.47, only one-hundredth of a second back the winner, Tucker Fredricks of the United States.

In the first 500ｍ final held on Friday, Mo had also come in second.

Lee Sang-hwa, who set the world record in the women's 500ｍ on Saturday, came up short of a medal in the 1,000ｍ on Sunday.

Lee finished fourth in 1:14.19. Heather Richardson of the U.S. won the race in 1:13.23, followed by Lotte van Beek of the Netherlands (1:13.36) and Brittany Bowe of the U.S. (1:13.70).

Lee specializes in the 500ｍ and has just one World Cup medal in the 1,000ｍ to her credit -- a bronze at a World Cup in December 2010. The 24-year-old, however, has credited her training for the 1,000ｍ with giving her late kicks in the 500ｍ. (Yonhap News)