speed skater-performance

▲ In this Associated Press photo, Kim Min-sun of South Korea competes in the women's 500-meter race at the International Skating Union World Cup Speed Skating at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, on Feb. 17, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Associated Press photo, South Korean speed skater Kim Min-sun poses with the Intenrational Skating Union World Cup trophy at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, after finishing as the first overall in the women's 500 meters on Feb. 17, 2023. (Yonhap)

speed skater-performance

Speed skater Kim Min-sun loses World Cup finale, misses title sweep

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean speed skater Kim Min-sun has fallen just shy of an unprecedented World Cup title sweep, suffering her first loss of the campaign in the season finale in Poland.

Kim finished second in the women's 500 meters in the sixth and final stop of the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Speed Skating season at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, on Friday (local time). With a time of 38.08 seconds, Kim finished 0.12 second behind Vanessa Herzog of Austria.

Kim came into the sixth World Cup race undefeated in ISU events for the season. The 23-year-old captured the 500m title at each of the first five World Cup stops and also won the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships gold medal in December.

Despite the narrow miss Friday, Kim still finished at the top of the World Cup overall standings in the 500m with 354 points, 53 ahead of Herzog. A victory is worth 60 points, and a silver medal is good for 54 points, and so forth.

Lee Sang-hwa, a retired two-time Olympic champion, still owns the South Korean record for the longest World Cup winning streak with 10.

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