Cha and Kim unable to make an impact in 1,000 meters

Cha Min-kyu competes during the men's speed skating 1,000-meter finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Friday. [AP/YONHAP]

Cha Min-kyu and Kim Min-seok finished well outside of medal contention in the men's 1,000 meters speed skating finals at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Friday.

Kim was first on the ice, racing in the seventh pairing alongside Jordan Stolz of the United States. Kim, the bronze medalist in the men's 1,500 meters, finished in 24th place with a time of 1 minute and 10.08 seconds, 2.16 seconds behind first place.

Cha raced in the tenth pairing alongside Cornelius Kersten of Great Britain. The pair raced immediately after the mid-competition break while the ice was resurfaced, with Cha finishing in 18th place with a time of 1 minute and 09.69 seconds, 1.77 seconds behind first place.

The gold medal went to Thomas Krol of the Netherlands with a time of 1 minute and 7.92 seconds, with Laurent Dubreuil of Canada finishing second and Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen of Norway taking third.

There are now just two speed skating events left at the Olympics. The men's and women's mass start events will round off the speed skating program in Beijing, starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]