In the men’s mass start speed skating at the Beijing Olympics, ‘defending champion’ Seung-hoon Lee and Ki-joo Jeong Jae-won advanced to the final side by side.
Seung-Hoon Lee placed 2nd in Group 2 of the Mass Start Semi-Finals held at the National Speed Skating Stadium in Beijing, China, and Jae-Won Jeong finished 4th in Group 1, winning the final tickets for the top eight in each group.
Seung-Hoon Lee took second place in the semi-final group 2 with a seasoned race while saving his stamina.
In the 4th, 8th, and 12th laps that give sprint points, I did not put too much energy into it and looked at the opportunity from behind.
Seung-Hoon Lee, who stayed in 10th until 13th lap, moved up to 7th in 14th lap, and took 3rd place with explosive spurting in 15th lap.
Seung-Hoon Lee, who was in the lead from the last lap, reduced his speed to save energy at the last minute and crossed the finish line in second place, earning 40 sprint points.
Seunghoon Lee is the first champion to win a gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, where mass start was first introduced.
In addition, starting with the 10,000m gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, he has won five medals in the Winter Olympics so far.
Jeong Jae-won, who served as Lee Seung-hoon’s assistant in Pyeongchang, also showed off his best skills.
Jeong Jae-won, who played in Group 1 of the semi-finals, crossed the finish line in 4th place with a record of 7:56.76 and received 10 sprint points. I did.
The Mass Start, which runs a total of 16 laps, is an event in which several athletes compete at the same time, just like the short track, and the ranking is determined by adding up the sprint points.
Sprint points 3, 2, and 1 are awarded to the athletes who finish 1st to 3rd in 4th, 8th, and 12th laps, respectively. At the finish line, 60 points for 1st place, 40 points for 2nd place, 20 points for 3rd place, and 4th place 10 points, 5th place 6 points, 6th place 3 points.
