Kim Jun-ho takes gold in 500 meters at World Cup

Kim Jun-ho won a surprise gold in the men’s 500 meters during the first leg of the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup in Minsk, Belarus on Sunday.

Kim finished his race at 34.870 seconds, a close 0.04 seconds ahead of Gao Tingyu of China, to pick up his first-ever gold in the event. Dai Dai Ntab of the Netherlands finished third at 34.916 seconds.

This is Kim’s first-ever World Cup gold in the men’s 500 meters and also Korea’s first gold since Mo Tae-bum won in 2013.

Followed by Kim, Korea’s Cha Min-kyu finished 11th at 35.361 seconds and Kim Tae-yun finished 12th at 35.399 seconds.

In the men’s 1,500 meters, Kim Min-seok just missed the podium by finishing fourth, clocking 1 minute and 46.686 seconds.

In the women’s mass start, Kim Bo-reum also just missed the podium by finishing her race at 8 minutes and 24.930 seconds.

By Kang Yoo-rim