From left, second placed Korea's Lee Seung-Hoon, winner Italy's Andrea Giovannini and third placed Belgium's Bart Swings pose on the podium of the men's mass start competition of the ISU World Speed Skating Championships in Hamar, Norway, March 15. AFP-Yonhap
Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon has claimed his first world championships medal in nine years at age 37.
Lee captured the silver medal in the men's mass start at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships at Hamar Olympic Hall in Hamar, Norway, on Saturday (local time), with a time of 7:56.52.
Andrea Giovannini of Italy beat Lee by 0.05 second for the gold. Bart Swings of Belgium finished third in 7:56.69.
This was Lee's first world championships medal since the mass start title at the 2016 competition in Kolomna, Russia.
In Saturday's race, Lee stayed in the back of the pack early before moving to the front in the late stretches. He was overtaken by Giovannini over the final straight to take the silver medal.
Lee is the most decorated South Korean speed skater in Olympic history, with six medals spread over four consecutive Winter Games from 2010 to 2022 — including the gold medal in the 10,000 meters in 2010 and the mass start gold in 2018.
Lee went through a dry spell after grabbing the mass start bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics but has shown signs of life during the current 2024-2025 season.
Lee helped South Korea to the men's team pursuit silver medal at the Asian Winter Games in China in February and then won the mass start title at an ISU World Cup stop in Poland later that month — his first World Cup gold medal in a little over seven years.
Lee will try to qualify for his fifth Winter Olympics, taking place next February in Italy. (Yonhap)
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