South Korea collected two silver medals in the inaugural men’s and women’s roller skating relays at the Asian Games in China on Monday, with a premature celebration costing the men’s team the gold medal.
Choi In-ho, Choi Gwang-ho and Jung Cheol-won grabbed the silver in the men’s speed skating 3,000-meter relay in 4:05.702 at Qintang Roller Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China. Chinese Taipei captured the gold in 4:05.692, with Huang Yu-Lin nipping Jung at the finish line for the title.
India got the bronze in 4:10.128.
With Choi In-ho leading off, South Korea held the early lead in the 15-lap race, with Chinese Taipei closely trailing through 10 laps. With four laps remaining, it became a two-horse race between South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
Choi In-ho and Choi Gwang-ho successfully held off Chen Yan-Cheng and then Chao Tsu-Cheng to maintain South Korea’s narrow lead. Jung almost put the finishing touch on the gold, but as he raised his arms in premature celebration before completely crossing the line, Huang stuck out his skate to beat the South Korean by 0.01 second.
The finish was so close that, in the immediate aftermath, the three South Koreans all celebrated what they thought was their gold medal but wore puzzled looks on their faces after seeing the final times flash on the scoreboard.
All three South Koreans entered Monday’s race having each won an individual medal in Hangzhou. Choi Gwang-ho won the 1,000m sprint title over Jung, while Choi In-ho won the bronze in the men’s 10,000m point-elimination.
Earlier Monday, the South Korean women’s team of Lee Seul, Park Min-jeong and Lee Ye-rim got the silver in their 3,000m relay final, with a time of 4:21.146. Chinese Taipei won the gold in 4:19.447.
India won the bronze in 4:34.861.
South Korea led over the first two laps before Chinese Taipei took over and pulled away with nine laps remaining. Chinese Taipei cruised home, with South Korea comfortably ahead of India in a battle for silver.
The speed skating portion of roller sports wrapped up Monday, with South Korea having bagged two golds, three silvers and three bronzes.
Source: Yonhap News Agency