Chung Jae-won ends World Cup season with mass start silver

From left: Silver medalist Chung Jae-won of Korea, gold medalist Bart Hoolwerf of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Andrea Giovannini of Italy pose for a photo after the men’s mass start final at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

 
Chung Jae-won missed his chance of winning a gold medal by 0.08 seconds at the final ISU Speed Skating World Cup event of the 2022-23 season, ending the tournament with two silvers in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland on Sunday.
 
The 21-year-old Korean speed skater finished the men’s mass start in 8 minutes and 19.4 seconds, just 0.08 seconds behind Barf Hoolwerf of the Netherlands in first place.  
 
Chung sprinted in the last lap and was briefly in the lead, but Hoolwerf outskated him at the last moment to take gold.  
 

Speed Skaters compete during the men’s mass start event of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland on Sunday. [AP PHOTO]

 
Sunday’s race was the second time Chung managed to medal in the World Cup this season. He won his first silver of the season in the men’s mass start in the second World Cup event last November.
 
With two silvers this season, Chung ranked fifth in the overall standings for the men’s mass start with 352 points.  
 
Veteran skater Lee Seung-hoon, who competed in the mass start alongside Chung, failed to make the podium as he finished in fourth place with a time of 8 minutes and 19.56 seconds. Lee ranked eight in the overall standings with 290 points.  
 
Chung dreamt of becoming a speed skater after seeing Lee take a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.  
 
Although Chung failed to win a gold medal this season, he still showed that he has the potential to be a big name in the near future.  
 
Chung made his international debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, where he became the youngest Korean speed skater to win a medal in the team pursuit event alongside Lee.
 
Since then, the Korean prospect has continued to prove he deserves the attention.  
 
Chung won a bronze medal in the mass start at the 2019 World Single Distances Championships and maintained that momentum at the following year’s Four Continents Championship, where he managed two silvers in the mass start and team pursuit.  
 
He won yet another silver in last year’s Olympics in the mass start.  
 
Chung is only 21 and still has a number of chances to win medals in big tournaments ahead of him, including the Olympics.  
 
Along with Kim Min-sun, who won five golds and one silver in six World Cup events this season, Chung will now head to Heerenveen, the Netherlands next month to compete in the World Speed Skating Championships in pursuit of his first gold medal of the year.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]