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| Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon trains at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, Feb. 4, in preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Yonhap |
Of the four Winter Olympic Games that he has been to, South Korean speed skater Lee Seung-hoon thinks he has never been more relaxed than he is now in Beijing.
In fact, the 33-year-old veteran is so comfortable that he feels as if he's gearing up for some local event, not an Olympics. With five medals, including two gold medals, already in his bag, Lee has long gone past the point where he wants to enter every race driven by a singular focus.
"Maybe I am getting old," Lee deadpanned after a training session Saturday at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. "I used to get all excited and worked up about the Olympics. But things have changed."
Lee added that restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic ― all athletes are in a bubble and there will be only a limited number of spectators at events ― may have contributed to the somber tone of the competition.
On a more personal level, Lee has low expectations for himself. He is the defending champion in the men's mass start event and ranked fifth overall in that event during this past International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup season. He should still be considered a medal threat based on his pedigree, but Lee thought otherwise.
"I don't really feel any added pressure as the defending champion," Lee said. "I don't think I am as well prepared for this competition as I was for previous Olympics."
Four years ago at PyeongChang 2018, Lee also won silver in the team pursuit race, with teammates Chung Jae-won and Kim Min-seok. Lee was the clear leader of that trio then, with both Chung and Kim still relatively raw teenagers.
Over the four ensuing years, Chung and Kim have developed into forces to be reckoned with, while Lee has been in decline. Lee admitted as much that the mantle has been passed.
"I am obviously not the same skater that I was four years ago," Lee said. "And it's a shame. If I can get back to that level and combine with Jae-won and Min-seok in their current form, we'd be doing some great things together. Now, they have to do the bulk of the work and I am following their lead."
As the elder statesman for the South Korean speed skating program, Lee has had the front-row seat to the development of the likes of Chung and Kim. And he has noticed how much athletes' mental approach to the Olympics has changed. Lee didn't sound so sure it was necessarily a good thing.
"When I was their age (in the early 20s), I used get all locked in and not let anything distract me," Lee said. "Today, the guys seem a lot more relaxed and they seem to be having more fun. And frankly, a lot of my teammates are just happy to be here at the Olympics. But that's okay. Times are different."
Though Lee may not seem as driven now than he had been at earlier Olympics, he didn't rule out the possibility of competing at another Olympics in four years' time.
"I will continue to compete. And if I can get through the national trials the next time, then maybe I will go to another Olympics," Lee said. "I don't train as much as I once did, though. I skate maybe three times a week. I am training like some skating club member. But if I can make the national team that way, then I will skate in the Olympics." (Yonhap)
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