6 February. Speed Skating. Mass-start. Men:
1. Seitaro Ichinohe (Japan) – 8:56.98
2. Lee Jinyeong (Korea) – 8:57.18
3. Alexander Razorenov (Russia) – 9:01.11
Since there were 29 skaters scheduled to take part in the men’s mass-start, two semifinal races had to be held (14 skaters took part in the first one and 15 skaters in the second). Eight fastest skaters from each semifinal went through to the final in which Asian skaters were considered heavy favorites. The tightly-fought race concluded with Japan’s Seitaro Ichinohe coming out on top, he was followed by Korea’s Lee Jinyeong who won silver. Russia’s Alexander Razorenov placed third beating skaters from Italy, France and Norway.
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Afterwards the medal winners shared their thoughts about the race:
Seitaro Ichinohe:
- My main rivals in this race were Italy’s Davide Ghiotto, Austria’s Linus Haidegger and guys from Korea. I am happy that I was able to win gold.
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Lee Jinyeong:
- I came really close to winning gold but I am still happy with my silver medal.
Alexander Razorenov:
- Mass-start races can be pretty unpredictable. I had to change my tactics during the race, catch up with my rivals in the final but guys from Korea and Japan really helped me. I would have loved to win gold but ran out of steam. Anyway, a medal is a medal.
