2 February. Speed skating. Women. 500 meters:
- Kim Hyunyung (South Korea) – 77.83 sec. (38.80 + 39.03)
- Arisa Tsujimoto (Japan) – 78.52 sec. (39.13 + 39.39)
- Aleksandra Kachurkina (Russia) – 78.71 sec. (39,44 + 39.26)
On the second of February two sets of medals were awarded on “Medeo”. Ladies were first who did two races for 500-meters sprint. Names of 39 athletes from 15 countries have been on the list. The Vice Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Saken Musaybekov followed the competition.
- Competitions are going according to a plan. Everything is fine in terms of organization of the competition. Athletes demonstrate decent results. Our athletes will please fans. We believe in our teams which has 170 athletes. They are all prepared and they want to perform well for our fans and for their families. We will support our team.
On this distance the best result in both races has been shown by South Korean Kim Hyunyung. She got ahead of the silver medalist the Japanese speed skater Arisa Tsujimoto. «Bronze» was awarded to the Russian speed skater Aleksandra Kachurkina. Yekaterina Aydova became the fourth.
After the end of the competition the winner and other medalists shared their impressions about the start.
Kim Hyunyung:
- I am happy. The ice on “Medeo” is similar to the ice in South Korea and probably that’s why it was easier for me than for others.
Arisa Tsujimoto:
- I was very nervous because our team did well on 500 meters but now I am very happy.
Aleksandra Kachurkina:
The mood is fine. The weather was nice. It is not the same that it was on 1500 meters distance when the snow did not let run. Today we were close to personal records. So everything is on the highest level.
