Kim Min-sun sets personal best at ISU Speed Skating World Cup

Kim Min-sun skates during the women’s 1000-meter competition at the ISU World Cup speedskating event in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

 
After winning the 500-meter gold medal and setting a personal record at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup at Calgary Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada on Saturday, Kim Min-sun set a second personal best record on Monday in the women’s 1000-meter race despite finishing sixth.  
 
On Saturday, Kim Min-sun won the gold medal in the 500-meter race setting a new personal record of 36.97 seconds, 0.29 seconds ahead of silver medalist Vanessa Herzog of Austria. Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands won the bronze medal with a time of 37.35 seconds. 
 
On Monday, Kim Min-sun set a personal best record for the second time at the World Cup with a time of 1:13.79 in the women’s 1000-meter race.  
 
Although Kim Min-sun failed to reach the podium, the fact she was able to shave some time off her previous personal best of 1:14.160 sets her up for a good season. Her personal best is also 0.13 seconds short of speed skating star Lee Sang-hwa’s Korean record of 1:13.66.  
 
Kim Min-sun already has five gold medals and one silver medal this season. Her first gold medal came in Stavanger, Norway in the 500-meters race with a time of 37.553. She went onto win the silver medal in the 1000-meter race with a time of 1:15.820.  
 
She won the 500-meter gold medal at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Quebec, Canada. It was her second 500-meter gold medal in just 10 days after winning the women’s 500 meters in Stavanger, Norway. Kim Min-sun won the 1000-meter gold medal in Quebec as well. She is now the world No. 1 in the women’s 500 meter.  
 
Kim Min-sun isn’t the only Korean who made it onto the podium in Calgary, with Kim Jun-ho winning the bronze medal in the men’s 500-meter. Kim Jun-ho crossed the finish line with a time of 34.19 seconds, 0.18 seconds behind the gold medalist Laurent Dubreuil of Canada and 0.01 seconds behind silver medalist Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan. Countryman Cha Min-kyu finished 16th with a time of 34.81 seconds.  
 
Park Ji-woo finished seventh in the women’s mass start with a time of 8:34.32 while Chung Jae-won finished fifth in the men’s mass start with a time of 8:11.24 and Lee Seung-hoon finished ninth with a time of 8:11.33.  

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]