Shim Suk-hee

This is a Korean name; the family name is Shim.
Shim Suk-hee

Shim Suk-hee at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games
Personal information
Birth name Shim Suk-hee
Born 30 January 1997
Gangneung, South Korea
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 56 kg (123 lb; 8.8 st)
Sport
Country  South Korea
Sport Speed skating
Achievements and titles
World finals World Championship
2014 Overall
World Cup
2013–14 Overall
2012–13 Overall
Shim Suk-hee
Hangul 심석희
Revised Romanization Sim Seokhui
McCune–Reischauer Sim Sŏkhŭi

Shim Suk-hee (Hangul: 심석희; born 30 January 1997) is a South Korean short track speed skater. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, she won gold in the 3000 metre relay as part of the South Korean relay team, silver in the 1500 metres, and bronze in the 1000 metres.

Early life

At the age of 6, Shim started short track speed skating in her howntown Gangneung as a hobby.[1]

Career

2011–2012

Youth Olympic Games

In late 2011 Shim made the South Korea's World Junior Championships Team at age 14. In January 2012, she participated in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics held in Innsbruck, where she swept all two individual events (500 m, 1000 m).[2] She also earned the bronze medal in the 3000 m mixed-country/gender relay as a member of the mixed team made up of skaters representing different nations.[3]

World Junior Championships

A month after the Youth Olympics, Shim competed in the 2012 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships held in Melbourne, where she won gold in all events available (overall, 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, relay) except for the 1500-metre super final. In the 500 metres, Shim won gold in dominating style, recording a time of 44.113. That time was 0.652 seconds faster than runner-up Agnė Sereikaitė of Lithuania.[4][5] In the 1000 metres, Shim broke the 9-year-old world junior 1000-metre record of 1:30.483 established by Byun Chun-sa of South Korea in 2003, finishing 1000 m in 1:30.266 in the semifinal race.[6][7] Shim set a world junior record again in the 1000 m final race with a time of 1:30.208, beating South Korean fellow Hwang Hyun-sun, a member of the senior national team, by 0.106 seconds.[8] Shim also won the 1500 metres with a time of 2:21.987, beating Hwang again by 0.082 seconds.[9]

2012–2013

World Cup

Shim was selected for the 2012–2013 South Korean national team at age 15 by capturing first place at the national trial competition in April 2012.[10] She won the 1500 metres and 1000 metres at the first race of the 2012–2013 World Cup in Calgary, her first senior level world competition. She also set a 1000 m world record of 1:26.661 in the semifinals on 21 October 2012, which was almost a second faster than the previous world record (1:27.653) set by Valérie Maltais two days ago.[11][12] Shim continued her successful run at the second 2012–2013 World Cup race in Montreal, where she won her second 1500 m gold medal. At the third race in Nagoya, Shim archived a podium finish in the 500 metres for the first time and won another gold in the 1500 metres. She eventually became the 1500 metres champion for the 2012–13 World Cup season clinching 1500 m gold at all six races, and became the runner-up behind Elise Christie in the 1000 metres with three gold medals. She also finished first in the overall 2012–2013 World Cup standings.

* The overall World Cup titles have not been officially awarded by the ISU since the 2006–07 season.

World Championships

From March 8–10, 2013, she competed at the 2013 World Championships held in Debrecen, Hungary, winning her first world championship in the 3000-metre super final. She won a silver medal, taking second behind fellow South Korean skater Park Seung-hi in the 1500 metres. Because of her wins, she became the overall bronze medalist, behind silver medalist Park Seung-hi and Wang Meng, who became a three-time overall world champion.

2013–2014

World Cup

At the first race of the 2013–2014 World Cup in Shanghai, Shim won both the 1000 metres and 1500 metres. Shim won gold in the 1000 metres and silver in the 1500 metres at the second race in Seoul, South Korea. Her wins on home soil began to garner considerable media attention and put her into the national spotlight.[13] At the third race of the 2013–2014 World Cup in Turin, Shim won both the 1000 metres and 1500 metres again. After winning gold in the 1500 metres and bronze in the 500 metres at the last race in Kolomna, Shim clinched her second straight overall World Cup title.[14] She also became the 1000 metres and 1500 metres champion for the 2013–14 World Cup season.[15]

* The overall World Cup titles have not been officially awarded by the ISU since the 2006–07 season.

Olympic Games

Shim Suk-hee in the 1000 m at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Shim went into her first Winter Olympics in Sochi with the declared aim of winning multiple gold medals. On 13 February 2014, she first competed in the 500 metres but surprisingly failed to advance out of the quarterfinals placing fourth in her heat.

Two days later, Shim won silver in the 1500 metres. Shim started the 1500 m final race at the back of the pack. Then she first made a move with 10 laps to go, charging out to first place with Arianna Fontana right behind her. After Kim A-lang and Li Jianrou got tangled up midway through, Shim was comfortably in the lead. Shim stayed in first place until the final stretch, but Zhou Yang, the reigning Olympic 1500 m champion, zipped past Shim with two laps to go and didn't relinquish the lead.[16]

On 18 February, Shim claimed gold in the 3000 metre relay as part of the South Korean relay team. With three laps to go in the final race, South Korea trailed China by a substantial margin and seemed headed toward an inevitable second place. However, the 17-year-old anchor for the relay team reached deep and conjured up every bit of energy in her lithe. She zipped past Li Jianrou on the outer side of the track in the final lap, a daring move that stunned the Chinese in a nail-biting finish.[17]

On 21 February, Shim won the bronze medal in the 1000 metres with a total time of 1:31.027, which was 0.266 seconds behind winner Park Seung-hi and 0.216 seconds behind runner-up Fan Kexin.[18]

World Championships

From March 14–16, 2014, Shim competed at the 2014 World Championships held in Montreal, Canada, winning her first overall title with 102 points, placing first place in the 1000 metres, 1500 metres and 3000 metres.[19] She defeated South Korean Park Seung-hi, silver medalist and Canadian Valérie Maltais who finished third in points.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Kim, Jin-hee (2014-02-25). "[Sochi] Shim's father said "She's a reserved but lovely daughter"" (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  2. ↑ Joensson, Kirstin (2012-01-19). "Korea's gold medal winner Shim Suk Hee competes at the women's …". Yahoo (Associated Press). Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  3. ↑ "Athletes relish Short Track Mixed-NOC Team Relay". Youth Olympic Games - Innsbruck 2012. 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  4. ↑ "Agne Sereikaite Of Lithuania, Suk Hee Shim Of Korea And Xue Wang Of China". Yahoo. 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  5. ↑ "Women's 500 m - 25th February". the-sports.org. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  6. ↑ "Records > Ladies > Juniors > 1000 m". International Skating Union. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  7. ↑ "2012 ISU World Junior Championships, AUS, Melbourne - Semifinals". International Skating Union. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  8. ↑ "2012 ISU World Junior Championships, AUS, Melbourne - Final". International Skating Union. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  9. ↑ "Krueger Skates to a 1500m Bronze at Junior World Championships". United States Olympic Committee. 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  10. ↑ Moon, Chang-seok (2014-02-18). "[Sochi 2014] 'Final Weapon' Shim Suk-hee" (in Korean). News1 Korea. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  11. ↑ "Canada's Charles Hamelin wins short track silver in Calgary". CBC Sports (The Canadian Press). 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  12. ↑ "Maltais, Valérie". Speed Skating Canada. 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  13. ↑ Kim, Young-rok (2013-10-06). "(Short Track World Cup) "Empress" Shim Suk-hee wins 1000 m gold" (in Korean). The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  14. ↑ "2013-2014 SEASON". International Skating Union. 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  15. ↑ Cornblatt, Willie (2013-11-13). "Shim Suk-Hee, Hamelin look to finish season strong". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  16. ↑ "Short tracker Shim Suk-hee wins silver in women's 1,500 meters". The Korea Times. 2014-02-15. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  17. ↑ "(Olympics) Women's relay team puts together golden race in short track". Yonhap. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  18. ↑ "Olympic Short Track Results". ESPN (Associated Press). 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  19. ↑ "An titré" (in French). L'Équipe. 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  20. ↑ Kim, Tong-hyung (2014-03-17). "Her time has come". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2014-03-21.

External links