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Koreans grab medals in mass start at Speed Skating World Cup

Published: 08 Dec. 2025, 12:35

Lee Seung-hoon of Korea smiles during the medal ceremony after winning the bronze medal in the men's team pursuit speed skating event at the Asian Winter Games at the Heilongjiang Ice Events Training Center Speed Skating Oval in Harbin, China, on Feb. 11. [YONHAP]

Korean speed skaters collected mass start medals at the latest International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup stop in the Netherlands.

Chung Jae-won claimed silver in the mass start at Thialf in the Dutch city of Heerenveen on Sunday, with a time of 7:25.568. Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands finished first in 7:24.963, while another Dutch skater, Bart Hoolwerf, got the bronze in 7:25.941.

This was Chung's second straight mass start silver medal during this ISU World Cup season, following the one in Calgary, Canada, in November.

Chung stayed in the back of the pack in the 24-skater race and was still in 15th place through 13 laps in the 16-lap event. But the Korean kicked into a new gear and moved up to fourth place with two laps left. Chung posted the fastest split over the final lap with 24.06 seconds to finish in second place.

In the women's mass start, Park Ji-woo earned bronze with a time of 8:08.285 for her first career ISU World Cup medal. After a late push, Park held off Ivanie Blondin of Canada at the finish line to reach the podium.

Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands won gold in 8:07.66, followed by Mia Manganello of the United States in 8:07.924.

This was the third of the five Speed Skating World Cup events scheduled for this season. The ISU will make its next stop in Hamar, Norway, this weekend, with the finale set for January in Inzell, Germany.

Yonhap