Harbin: When South Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon won his ninth career Asian Winter Games medal in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin on Tuesday, it was a full circle moment, with a twist, for the 36-year-old.
According to Yonhap News Agency, as a college student in February 2009, Lee won three gold medals at the Winter Universiade in Harbin-not in speed skating, but in short track. Those three gold medals came about a year before the Vancouver Winter Olympics, making Lee a strong medal contender in short track. However, Lee missed out on the national team trials two months later, as South Korea has a depth of short track talent. In September 2009, Lee decided to switch to long track.
Lee is not the first one to make that switch in South Korea, but he has been by far the most successful one. He won a gold medal and a silver medal in Vancouver and went on to collect four more medals over the next three Olympic Games. In the Asian Winter Games, Lee now owns more medals than any South Korean athlete. The silver medal in the men’s team pursuit event on Tuesday allowed Lee to break a tie with former short tracker Kim Dong-sung.
Lee took a moment to reflect on his first taste of Harbin in 2009 and how his decision later that year changed the course of his life and career. “It was such a long time ago. I was so driven to win Olympic medals as a short tracker,” Lee said. “I’ve been really lucky. Making the switch was so difficult back in 2009, but it has allowed me to get this far in my career.”
Lee swept up three gold medals and a silver medal at the 2011 Asian Winter Games, and then four more gold medals at the 2017 competition. The South Korean Winter Asiad medals record is now his, though Lee himself said he didn’t feel any special emotion toward the record. “I am just happy to be skating. I feel like this is just a hobby now,” Lee said.
Lee, who turns 37 in March, may not be active for the next Winter Asiad in early 2029. However, he is gunning for a medal at the next Winter Olympics, set to take place in Italy a year from now. He will pursue his third straight medal in the men’s mass start, after winning gold in 2018 and bronze in 2022. “If I have an opportunity toward the finish line, I am confident I can pounce on that,” Lee said. “I must make sure I will give myself that chance.”
Lee said he had contemplated retiring after the 2022 Olympics in Beijing but changed his mind after being inspired by skaters in the Netherlands who “seemed to be enjoying skating without worrying about anything else.” Lee said he hopes to see his medals record broken soon. “To compete in long distance events, you have to put in a ton of work. But there isn’t anyone in Korea at the moment who is doing all the necessary training,” Lee said. “Hopefully, someone will come up and break my record.”