INCHEON– In the midst of a dominant season, South Korean speed skater Kim Min-sun has brought back memories of another world-beating sprinter from the country, Lee Sang-hwa.
Lee, who retired with two Olympic gold medals and four world titles, is also Kim’s mentor, someone that the 23-year-old budding star leans on constantly for advice on and off the ice.
Kim is putting together a Lee-esque season, having won five consecutive international titles over the past few weeks. She has won all four International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup titles in the women’s 500 meters and has sprinkled in a Four Continents title in the same distance, too.
However, after returning home Tuesday from Canada, the site of her last two World Cup gold medals and the Four Continents victory, Kim shot down any comparison with Lee.
“She stayed on top for a very long time, and she still holds the world record,” Kim told reporters at Incheon International Airport. Lee’s 500m world record of 36.36 seconds has stood for nine years. “I respect her more than any other athlete. I don’t think I can be compared to her just yet. I hope I can be as consistently good as she was, and I’d like to go for her world record.”
In winning her most recent World Cup title last Friday in Calgary, Kim established a new personal best of 36.96 seconds. Just a week prior to that, she had set a personal best with 36.97 seconds on the same ice at Calgary Olympic Oval.
Lee’s record is now within reach, though Lee set her mark at Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, considered the fastest ice in speed skating, and Kim won’t have a chance to compete there this season.
Ice surface aside, Kim said she also needs to improve her starts. Throughout this season, Kim has made up for mediocre starts with explosive finishes down the stretch.
“I think I’ve been getting better and better in that area, but I still have room for improvement,” Kim said. “Things haven’t always gone the way I wanted them to, but even if it takes time, I will keep working at it. When Sang-hwa set her world record, she was about a tenth of a second faster than I am now with her start.”
As hard as she is pushing herself, Kim said she is not feeling any extra burden on her shoulders.
“I don’t feel any pressure at all. I am having a lot of fun,” Kim said. “I’ve been gaining a lot of confidence in myself over the course of this season.”
Comparisons with Lee are hardly new for Kim, who was first anointed “Next Lee Sang-hwa” after winning the 500m gold medal at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.
Kim didn’t come close to a medal at either of her first two senior Olympics in 2018 and in 2022, before finally rising to the prominence that many had anticipated for years.
Kim insisted she hasn’t been doing anything different than in the past, as far as her preparations and training routines. Her mindset, on the other hand, has changed somewhat after the first couple of World Cup titles.
“After my first two victories, I was just too happy to have realized my dream,” Kim said. “But after the Four Continents and two more World Cup wins, I began to think more about what I should do to stay on top. I have higher expectations for myself now than before.”
The World Cup season will resume in February with two consecutive competitions in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland. The season-ending world championships will take place in March in the Dutch city of Heerenveen.
Source: Yonhap News Agency