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Lee of South Korea wins Harbin Universiade's first gold
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-19 15:48

HARBIN -- South Korea's No. 1 speed skater Lee Sang Hwa held off a strong challenge from the host Chinese here Thursday to win the women's 500 meters, the first gold medal up for grabs at the Harbin Winter Universiade.


South Korea's skater Lee Sang Hwa competes during the women's 500 meters speed skating, Harbin, February 19, 2009. [Xinhua]
"It's a sweet surprise," said Lee, who turns 20 years old next week. "To win the Universiade's first gold is something beyond my expectation since I just wanted to race against the previous record."

The teenage sensation, who won a personal best of 37.81 seconds to set the world junior record at the World Single Distances Championships two years ago in Salt Lake City, seemed to earn an extra reward by winning the tournament's first gold with a record setting result.

To top the general standings, Lee twice smashed the Universiade record, clocking 38.20 in the first race and 38.16 in the second.

"I'm so glad that I performed better than what I had imagined," she said.

What Lee broke was her own mark of 38.64, which was set in 2007 in the Turin Winter Universiade.

China's favorite Yu Jing, the reigning national title holder, settled for the second place after pairing with Lee in both the races and finishing repectively on 38.42 and 38.47.

"I'd expected a better performance but I failed myself," said Yu, ranked only next to Asian champion Wang Beixing in the country. "I've met Lee Sang Hwa for several times but had hardly raced against her simultaneously on the track before today's race, which made me clearly feeling my nerve."


South Korea's skater Lee Sang Hwa (C), China's Yu Jing (L) and Zhang Shuang pose for a photo during the awarding ceremony for women's 500 meters speed skating after Lee wins the gold, and China's Yu and Zhang finish second and third, Harbin, February 19, 2009. [Xinhua]
"To compete in a Universiade in my hometown, I'm sure to be thirsty for a victory. But maybe I was too anxious, especially in the second round, I made some technical errors in the race and failed to skate more faster," she added.

Her compatriot Zhang Shuang was the third after taking the first race in a time of 38.95 and the second at 38.35, narrowly beating teammate Ren Hui, a double gold medals winner in the 2005 Universiade, with a sum time difference of 0.01 second.

"I'm satisfied with my results and my secret was just to play my own race," commented the 22-year-old Zhang, who finished the fourth in the women's 500m in last year's World Championships and whose personal best is 38.04 seconds taken two years ago in a World Cup event.

To be nervous or not seemed a key factor in Thursday's race of women's 500m, as the winner Lee also talked a lot about it after being crowned.

"I just performed my normal level," she said. "Of course I could feel the pressure when racing a match that produced the first gold, but I'd been sure that I could handle it while the Chinese might have be more pressed to race home."

Her words got echoed by her Chinese opponents, as Yu said that "Lee seemed relaxed and she skated much better than any time I've seen her in Harbin."

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