Hipoby's Blog

Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon won a gold medal in the men’s 10,000 m speed skating at the Richmond Oval in Vancouver with a new Olympic record on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old skater clocked 12:58.55 in the longest distance event, breaking the previous Olympic record set by Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands at the 2002 Salt Lake City games of 12:58.92. 

Lee Seung-hoon reacts after recording a new Olympic record in the men’s 10,000 m speed skating at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Wednesday. /Yonhap

Lee, who had already won a silver medal in the men’s 5,000 m on day 2 of the Olympics, skated in the fifth out of eight groups on Thursday, and finished more than a lap ahead of his partner Arjen van de Kieft of the Netherlands who finished at 13:33.37.

Dutch favorite Sven Kramer, who had won gold in the men’s 5,000 m, appeared at first to have won the gold again this time with a new Olympic record of 12:54.50, but was disqualified for crossing a lane.