Lee Seung-hoon (; ; born 6 March 1988) is a South Korean speed skater. He won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres, a silver medal in the

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, becoming the first and only Asian man ever to achieve these feats, a gold medal in mass-start at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

, a gold medal in the mass start at the 2016 World Championships in

Kolomna Kolomna (, ) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva River, Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the fir ...

, and a bronze medal in mass-start at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

. He was a short track speed skater, winning the 2008 World Championship 3000 m super-final and three gold medals at the

2009 Winter Universiade The 2009 Winter Universiade, the XXIV Winter Universiade took place in Harbin, China. Student athletes from 44 countries took part in the games. Selection Harbin was selected by FISU on January 10, 2005 over future 2011 Winter Universiade host c ...

. Lee converted to long track in September 2009, as he failed to earn his spot on the South Korea national short track team in the national trials.

Early life

Lee Seung-hoon started skating in first grade at Lila Elementary School. However, when the

Asian Financial Crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltd ...

hit South Korea, his father's business failed in 1998 when he was in the fourth grade. Lee's parents tried to get their son to give up skating because they could no longer afford the training fee. Although they sold their car, Lee insisted on continuing skating and went to the ice rink by bus. Lee was a

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

at Sinmonk High School and

Korea National Sport University Korea National Sport University (KNSU) is a South Korean national university located in the neighborhood of Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It is the only national sport university of South Korea and offers degrees from undergraduate to doctoral lev ...

, but the competition between skaters was very high. Lee was evaluated as a rising rookie but could not surpass Ahn Hyun-Soo and Lee Ho-Suk.(24 February 2010
<가난ㆍ시련도 이승훈 `빙상의지' 못 꺾어>(종합)

Yonhap Yonhap News Agency (; ) is a major news agency in South Korea. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures, and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea. History Yonhap was esta ...

.(25 February 2010
“상화 까칠녀” “승훈 품절남” “태범 모터범”
The Hankyoryeh. Lee faced a wall after not being selected as a national player in the South Korean national competition held in April 2009. Since Lee was expected to become one of the national skaters, his frustration over the result could have led him to give up skating. However, after long consideration, Lee declared in front of his family that he would switch to long track speed skating. Lee assumed he could at least become a candidate in the other genre even though Choi Geun-won was considered the long track speed skater expected to represent South Korea. Lee excelled, skating a record of 6 minutes 48 seconds and defeating Choi to become a South Korean national skater. Lee has been close friends with gold medalists

Mo Tae-bum Mo Tae-bum (, Hanja: 牟太釩; ; born 15 February 1989) is a South Korean speed skater. He is the 2010 Olympic Champion and the 2012 and 2013 World Champion in 500 m. He started speedskating while in the third grade. Prior to the 2010 Winte ...

and

Lee Sang-hwa Lee Sang-hwa (, ; born 25 February 1989) is a South Korean retired speed skater who specialises in the sprint distances. She is a two-time Olympic champion in 500 metres (2010 and 2014) and the 2010 World Sprint champion. She is the current wo ...

since they were in grade school. In speed skating at the

, Mo won the gold medal in the men's 500-meter race and took silver in the 1000-meter race, while Lee Sang-hwa won the women's 500 meters.

Career

2016 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships - 10000m M - Lee Seung-hoon - 02

One of Lee's first major international competitions was at the

Harbin, China Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban population (after Shenyang, Liaoning prov ...

. Lee captured three gold medals in

short track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

in the 1000, 1500 and 3000 metre events, a feat only bettered by countryman Sung Si-Bak during the

2007 Winter Universiade The 2007 Winter Universiade, the XXIII Winter Universiade, took place in Turin, Italy from January 17 to 27, 2007. Opening ceremony The Opening Ceremony of the XXIII Winter Universiade Torino 2007 was held with a cast of acrobats, circus perform ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, winning every distance, the 500, 1000, 1500, 3000 and 5000 m relay. Despite his successes, Lee shocked many observers by failing to earn a spot on South Korea's national short track team in April 2009. Later that year, in September, Lee switched from short track to long track speed skating. On 4 January 2010, in an interview with

Arirang ''Arirang'' ( ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "arirang, arirang, arariyo" (""). It is estimated that the song is more than 600 years old ...

, Lee was quoted during an interview as saying: "I would like to tear down the barriers and show the world that Asians can excel in the speed skating program, too, not just in the short track program." Most commentators pointed out that at the time no Asian had ever won a medal in long distance speed skating categories at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Relatively obscure in his new field, Lee surprised everyone by finishing the men's 5000 meters in a time of 6 minutes, 16.95 seconds at the

, placing second only behind

Sven Kramer Sven Kramer (; born 23 April 1986) is a retired Dutch long track speed skater who has won an all-time record nine World Allround Championships as well as a record ten European Allround Championships. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 mete ...

of the Netherlands who clocked in at 6 minutes, 14.60 seconds. He then went on to win the gold medal in the 10000 meter final after Kramer was disqualified for finishing in the wrong lane. Lee stated afterward: "My coaches told me at first that Kramer had made a mistake, and I saw it on the replay they were showing on the big screen. I want to compete with Kramer again." In 2021, Lee signed a contract with IHQ.

Records

Personal records

Olympic records

Olympic Games

''7 medals – (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)''

References

External links

*
archived former page
*

at the

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Seung-hoon 1988 births Living people South Korean male speed skaters South Korean male short-track speed skaters Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic silver medalists for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic speed skaters for South Korea Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Asian Games medalists in speed skating Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Speed skaters at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Speed skaters at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Speed skaters at the 2025 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2025 Asian Winter Games Winter World University Games medalists in short-track speed skating Medalists at the 2007 Winter Universiade World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists World Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists Speed skaters from Seoul FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea FISU World University Games silver medalists for South Korea FISU World University Games bronze medalists for South Korea Competitors at the 2007 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 2009 Winter Universiade Korea National Sport University alumni 21st-century South Korean sportsmen