And now it's time for our daily coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with Lee Tae
Ho.
Good afternoon, Tae Ho.
Good afternoon, Conn-young.
Day 11 is in the books, and what an action packed day it was.
I definitely agree, it was an amazing night.
Alright, so what do you have for us first?
What better way to start than by talking about the latest gold medal scored by Team Korea?
The dream team -- consisting of Cho Ha-ri, Kim A-lang, Park Seung-hee and Shim Suk-hee
-- went into the 3,000-meter women's short-track relay... as both the favorites and in first
position.
And they lived up to the expectations they were facing going into the race,... beating
Team China for the gold.
I heard it was a thrilling race.
How did it go down?
Well, Korea was in second place, with China in the lead, and two laps left to go, when
silver medalist Shim Suk-hee took the outside to blaze by and take the lead.
It was a lead that she would NOT relinquish.
Now, this must have been a sweet victory for Team Korea, considering the events of the
2010 Vancouver Games?
That's right, and if you remember the events of four years ago, the Korean team came in
first with the world record, only to be disqualified for blocking their Chinese rivals.
Two members of the 2010 3,000-meter relay team, Cho and Park, were members of this year's
winning team, so this victory was especially meaningful for them.
So, this race was almost a reversal of 2010?
In a sense, because this time in Sochi, the Chinese team was penalized and stripped of
their silver medal for blocking the Korean team.
And even with the penalty, Shim Suk-hee was able to just overpower and take the lead with
an amazing burst of speed on the outside.
A fantastic showing for the ladies of Team Korea, who have, up to now, captured all four
of the medals for Korea.
Well, congratulations are certainly in order for this especially significant victory for
Team Korea.
That makes this the fifth gold medal in seven attempts by Team Korea in this event, and
eight years since their last gold in the 3,000.
And there was also a number of preliminary heats for short track yesterday, right?
Yes, indeed, and so far so good for Team Korea.
Park Seung-hee, Shim Suk-hee and Kim A-lang all managed to qualify for the women's 1,000-meter
short track event, while for the men, Park Sae-young and Lee Han-bin both qualified for
the 500-meter event.
And the men were in action as well?
Oh yes, and for the ever intimidating 10,000-meter speed skating event.
This is an event that the Dutch have dominated in the past, and
they dominated again last night -- taking the gold, silver and bronze once again.
Wow, that's just amazing.
And how did Team Korea fare?
Well, it was really disappointing, because Korea's Lee Seung-hoon, the only competitor
from Asia, was right on the cusp of the bronze, but faltered with about four laps remaining
to place 4th for the night.
So, close.
But in all fairness this is a competition that the Dutch have dominated for years -- especially
Sven Kramer, who dominated the event for years and still holds the world record.
That's right.
Which was why it was such a surprise that Lee won in 2010, despite Kramer's disqualification
in 2010.
Okay now, switching gears to figure skating.
One of the most anticipated events for many fans is the ladies' figure skating competition
and the performances by defending Olympic champion Kim Yu-na.
Definitely.
It seems that even the International Olympic Committee is ramped up, saying on their website
that it's "Yu-na time " The IOC's main page currently features the
graceful figure of Korea's figure skating queen.
There is also a wonderful interview with Kim, who really seems to want to enjoy this, her
final competition.
The event starts at midnight, Korea time, with Kim Yu-na slated to perform at about
2:20 a.m.
So, I guess there are going to be a lot of tired Korean citizens tomorrow.
And always a big topic of discussion is the costumes, which will be in the spotlight tonight.
Yes, indeed.
And there have been some great ones so far.
But I think one of the standouts has been Russia's ice dance pair, who skated to Tchaikovsky's
"Swan Lake" and were in amazing Black Swan costumes that matched perfectly with both
the ballet and the choreography.
Another great one is Yulia Lipnitskaya's red dress, which symbolized the red coat of the
little girl from the movie "Schindler's List," which she skated to in the figure skating
team free skate.
And finally the Italian ice-dance pair who seemed to be performing as Romeo and Juliet.
So, we're seeing more costumes that make reference to culture and that are more theatrical, rather
than the typical nationalistic costumes incorporating the colors of the flag.
Very perceptive and correct indeed.
Alright, but this question definitely needs to be revisited after the short and long women's
programs as well.
Thank you, Tae Ho, we'll all be intensely focused on the competition tonight and I'm
sure you'll be breaking down the whole program tomorrow.
Most definitely.
See you then.