World Championships:

Koreans Burn It Up
Mantia wins 1000 meters; Bowe bumps out of contention

By Robert "Just the Factoids" Burnson
Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007

South Korea is once again proving itself to be one of the top inline speed skating nation's in the world.

Korean skaters grabbed nine medals today, including four golds, at the World Speed Skating Championships in Cali, Colombia.

That put Korea, a relative newcomer in the skating world, into second place in the overall medal hunt. In two days of competition, it has collected 13 medals, including seven golds.

Skating powerhouse Colombia is the only country with more medals: 14. But nearly half of Colombia's medals (6) are bronze while more than half of Korea's (7) are gold.

Setting the Pace

The strength of Korea was visible in all but one of the eight races on the track in Cali today. In the 15,000 meter races, Korean skaters led or controlled the pace for most, if not all, of the race. When they weren't in the lead, they seemed to be just waiting to take it back again.

Colombia was also a major player in today's racing. However, they followed the Koreans more than they led, often waiting until the final laps to try to overtake the Koreans.

15,000 Meters

This strategy worked well for them in the women's and junior women's 15,000-meter elimination.

In the women's race, the Korean women Hyo Sook Woo and Hye Mi Kim led for much of the race. (USA's Brittany Bowe and Jessica Smith challenged early. But first Bowe, and later Smith, fell back and were eliminated.)

However, Colombia's Alexandra Vivas and Liana Holguin stayed close behind the Koreans and with about a lap to go, Vivas unleashed a furious sprint.

Woo tried to go with her but couldn't keep up, and Vivas won easily to give Colombia its second gold of the day.

Its first gold came in the junior women's (under 18) 15,000 meters. This was a messy race that included some odd officiating (at one point, an official tried to halt the race, which continued nonetheless). There was also a nasty pileup, which took several skaters out of the race.

A lap before the finish, Korea's Eul Ki Kook took off sprinting and got away from the leaders. But Colombia's Maria Claudia Salazar poured on the speed and caught Kook. Salazar thrust her foot forward at the line to beat Kook by inches. (Kook did not hawk.)

Korean Wins

But Colombia's come-from-behind strategy was not always successful.

In the junior men's 15,000 meters, the Korean team of Ki Dong Kwak and Young Su Won, after leading most of the race, rocketed away from the front a few laps from the finish to win comfortably.

Won, who claimed gold in Saturday's 10,000-meter points elimination, was leading at the end but, yards from the finish line, seemed to slow down, as though handing the gold to his teammate. Colombia had to settle for bronze.

Korea didn't only do well in the 15,000 meters, in which it has been strong for a few years, they also emerged as a powerful force in the 1000 meters. They reached the finals in three of the four 1000-meter finals today and won gold in two of them: the junior women's and junior men's.

Bowe's Collision

In the senior women's 1000 meters, Korea's Ju Hee Im took the bronze after a messy finish that probably changed the outcome of the race.

USA's Brittany Bowe took the lead with about two laps to go in the race and pulled about 10 meters ahead of the pack. But Colombia's Briggytte Mendez caught her on the final corner and began to go by her on the inside.

Bowe cut to the inside and bumped Mendez, knocking her into the infield. Mendez shot back onto the track in front of Bowe and the Korean. All three women had lost some of their momentum. At that point, New Zealand's Nicole Begg, who had been in fourth, shot past them to take the gold. Mendez finished second.

The Mantia

The only race all day that didn't involve a Korean was the men's 1000 meters. No Korean made it to the finals, and of the eight men who did, none saw anything more than the backside of Joey Mantia.

The 21-year-old from Olympia, WA, shot to the front at the start and stayed there. Several yards before the finish line, he stood up and raised his arms in triumph.

It was Mantia's second gold medal of the championships. He won the gold in Saturday's 300-meter time trial. So far, he has won three of USA's four medals.

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