S. Korea's Cha Min-kyu wins surprise silver in men's 500m speed skating

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Cha Min-kyu on Monday made a surprise run at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics to capture silver in the men's 500 meter speed skating. He clocked 34.42 in the men's 500m finals at the Gangneung Oval, just 0.01 second behind winner Havard Lorentzen. The bronze medal went to Gao Tingyu of China at 34.65. The 24-year old sprinter, who was 9th in the 2017-2018 world ranking, has not been regarded as a medal contender in the men's shortest-distance event in the long track. Cha became the third South Korean Olympic medalist in men's 500m speed skating, following Lee Kang-seok winning bronze at Torino 2006 and Mo Tae-bum taking gold at Vancouver 2010. He raced in the outer course of the track, in the 14th group, with Gilmore Junio of Canada. Cha's speed in the first 100m was not the fastest, but he surged in the remaining 400m to tie the Olympic record of 34.42, set in 2002, although that record was broken by 0.01 second by Lorentzen minutes later. His record is close to his season best of 34.31, set at the Speed Skating World Cup last year His teammate Kim Jun-ho finished 12th at 35.01 and Mo Tae-bum, the Olympic gold winner at Vancouver 2010, timed 35.15 to rank 16th. brk@yna.co.kr (END)