Gangneung: South Korean speed skater Kim Tae-yun captured bronze in the men’s 1,000m discipline in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here on Friday.
Kim clocked 1:08.22, close to his personal record of 1:08.08, at the race held at the Gangneung Oval, reports Yonhap news agency.
The performance marked a significant improvement from his first Olympics, the 2014 Winter Games, where Kim posted 1:10.81 to finish in 30th place.
Kim passed the 200m mark at 16:39, and stood No.1 among 30 athletes with one lap to go. A total of 36 skaters joined the race.
Three South Korean skaters ran in the 1,000m event, including Cha Min-kyu, who captured silver in the 500m competition here. Cha clocked 1:09.27, hovering above his season best of 1:09.58, putting him in 12th place.
Following him was Chung Jae-woong, in 13th place with 1:09.43.
Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands captured gold with a time of 1:07.95, with Havard Lorentzen of Norway winning silver at 1:07.99.
It marked the third time for a South Korean athlete to win a medal in the men’s 1,000m discipline.
In 1992, Kim Yoon-man won silver, and Mo Tae-bum won the second silver in 2010.
Mo, who also won gold in the 500m in 2010, gave up joining the race after suffering an injury during training in PyeongChang, paving the way for Cha’s entry. Mo finished in 16th place in the 500m race here.
Kim fell down at the qualification run for the national team for the 2017 Asian Winter Games, missing the ticket. The skater, however, did not give up and focused his efforts on running for the country’s first Winter Olympics.
