Source: Xinhua
02-17-2009 08:18
Special Report: Harbin 24th Winter UniversiadeHARBIN, Northeast China, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's No. 1woman speed skater Lee Sang Hwa has eyed on winning the first gold medal in dispute at the upcoming World Winter University Games hereto start Wednesday.
"The women's 500 meters speed skating race will be the first event to produce a gold medal of the Winter Universiade on Thursday noon. Yes, I know it and I do want to win it. But what I have to do is just to let down my mind and to play my normal performance," said the teenage sensation who turns 20 years old next week.
"There's pressure on me, that's for sure. But I don't buy it," she added.
The South Korean delegation for the Winter Universiade has send a strong team to speed skating and has three titles in sight with Lee's victory in the women's 500 meters long track event in count.
"Since Lee's 500m could be the first gold that our country win here, we are sure to make more effort on her preparations," said Lee Jae Sik, team leader of the South Korean speed skating squad.
As the traditional powerhouses in speed skating, like Canada and the Netherlands, sent few of their senior athletes here for the Universiade, China, South Korea and Japan emerge as the hot favorite in the sport.
"We've named a strongest team for the event and are hopeful to win three gold medals out of the fourteen events in speed skating," said Lee Jae Sik, emphasizing that a Lee Sang Hwa victory on Thursday would be a perfect start for their team.
