Lee Kang-seok

Lee Kang-seok

Lee Kang-seok at the 2006 World Cup
Personal information
Born	(1985-02-28) 28 February 1985 (age 39) Uijeongbu, South Korea
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	71 kg (157 lb; 11.2 st)
Sport
Country	South Korea
Sport	Speed skating
Achievements and titles
World finals	2006 (500 m) 2009 (100 m)
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing  South Korea Olympic Games 2006 Turin 500 m World Sprint Championships 2010 Obihiro Sprint World Single Distance Championships 2007 Salt Lake City 500 m 2009 Vancouver 500 m Winter Universiade 2007 Torino 500 m 2009 Harbin 100 m 2009 Harbin 500 m 2007 Torino 1000 m 2005 Innsbruck 500 m 2009 Harbin 1000 m Asian Winter Games 2007 Changchun 500 m 2011 Astana-Almaty 500 m 2007 Changchun 100 m

Lee Kang-seok (Korean: 이강석; Hanja: 李康奭, born 28 February 1985) is a South Korean speed skater. He is the 2007 and 2009 World Champion for 500 m. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the 500 m. He is the second South Korean person to win a medal in an event outside of short track speedskating, and he has become a representative to show that South Korea is expanding towards cultivating their athletes to excel in sports other than short track speed skating.

On 5 March 2006, Lee won his first World Cup title, winning the 2005–06 World Cup on the 500 m. A year later, Lee won gold at the World Single Distance Championships in the Utah Olympic Oval, setting a world record time of 34.25 seconds in the second race. The record has been broken since then by Jeremy Wotherspoon on 9 November 2007, with a time of 34.03 seconds. At the 2009 Winter Universiade in Harbin, China, Lee won the 500 m, beating Yu Fengtong with times of 35.00 and 34.82.