Lee Sang-hwa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lee Sang-hwa

Personal information
Born	(1989-02-25) 25 February 1989 (age 36) Seoul, South Korea
Height	1.65 m
Weight	62 kg
Spouse(s)	Kangnam ​ (m. 2019)​
Sport
Country	South Korea
Sport	Speed skating
Retired	2019
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 2010 Vancouver 500 m Gold 2014 Sochi 500 m Silver 2018 Pyeongchang 500 m World Sprint Championships Gold 2010 Obihiro Women Bronze 2013 Salt Lake City Women World Single Distance Championships Gold 2012 Heerenveen 500 m Gold 2013 Sochi 500 m Gold 2016 Kolomna 500 m Silver 2011 Inzell 500 m Silver 2017 Gangneung 500 m Bronze 2005 Inzell 500 m Bronze 2009 Vancouver 500 m World Junior Championships Bronze 2005 Seinäjoki All Around Winter Universiade Gold 2007 Torino 500 m Gold 2009 Harbin 500 m Bronze 2009 Harbin 100 m Asian Winter Games Silver 2007 Changchun 500 m Bronze 2011 Astana-Almaty 500 m Silver 2017 Sapporo 500 m Bronze 2007 Changchun 100 m

Lee Sang-hwa (born 25 February 1989) is a retired speed skater from South Korea. She was known for being super fast in short races, especially the 500 metres.

Lee Sang-hwa is a two-time Olympic champion. She won gold medals in the 500 metres race at the 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Games. She also won the World Sprint Championship in 2010.

She holds the world record for the women's 500 metres race. She set this amazing time of 36.36 seconds in Salt Lake City on 16 November 2013. She also held the South Korean record for the 1000 metres race for many years.

About Lee Sang-hwa

Her Early Life and School

Lee Sang-hwa was born in 1989. Her father, Lee U-geun, worked as a technician. Her mother's name is Kim In-sun.

She has an older brother, Lee Sang-jun, who also used to skate. Lee Sang-hwa started skating when she was in first grade. She was inspired by her brother. Even though her brother was good, Lee seemed to have a special talent for skating. Their parents could only afford to support one child's skating. So, Lee Sang-hwa continued her journey in the sport.

Lee is good friends with Mo Tae-bum. He also won a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. They have been friends since elementary school. Lee currently attends Korea National Sport University.

Her Amazing Skating Career

Lee Sang-hwa first competed internationally when she was 14 years old. This was in Canada in October 2003. She won her test races easily. Her best time was 39.02 seconds.

Her first big championship was the World Junior Speed Skating Championships in 2004. She was the youngest skater there. She finished 16th overall. But she took third place in the 500 metres race.

The next year, she joined the Speed Skating World Cup races. She placed eighth in her very first race. She often finished in the top ten. She even got two fourth-place finishes in 100 metre sprints. She also won two senior Korean titles.

In 2006, Lee got even better in the 100 and 500 metres races. She finished on the World Cup podium four times. She even won the 100 metre World Cup final. She also set a world junior record in the 500 metres. Her time was 37.90 seconds.

Olympic Success

At the Turin Olympics in 2006, Lee finished fifth. This was a great achievement for her.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Lee won her first Olympic gold medal. This was in the women's 500 metres. She was the first Asian woman to win this event! She raced against Jenny Wolf from Germany. Jenny Wolf was the world-record holder at that time. Lee won by a tiny bit, just five hundredths of a second.

On 9 November 2013, she broke the world record in the 500 metres. She did this at a World Cup event in Calgary, Canada. Her new time was 36.74 seconds. Just a few days later, on 15 November, she broke her own record again! She skated 36.57 seconds in Salt Lake City, USA. The very next day, she improved it even more to 36.36 seconds. This is still the current world record!

On 11 February 2014, she won her second Olympic gold medal. This was in the women's 500 metres at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. She set an Olympic record of 74.70 seconds. She was the first woman since 2002 to win back-to-back Olympic golds in the 500 metres. She was also the first Asian woman to do this.

Lee competed in her fourth Winter Olympics in 2018. This was at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in her home country. She won a silver medal, her third Olympic medal. She was defeated by Japan's Nao Kodaira. After the race, Lee cried tears of emotion. Her rival and friend, Kodaira, hugged and comforted her. This moment of sportsmanship touched many people around the world. It became one of the most memorable parts of the 2018 Olympics.

Lee officially announced her retirement from speed skating on 16 May 2019. In February 2022, she started a new role. She became a sports commentator at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Her Life Outside Skating

Personal Life

On 16 March 2019, Lee's agency confirmed she was dating singer Kangnam. They met while appearing on a TV show called Law of the Jungle.

On 29 August, Kangnam and Lee Sang-hwa announced they were getting married. Their wedding ceremony took place on 12 October at a hotel in Seoul. The couple now lives in a building in Seoul. Her husband built it on land that has been in his family for many years.

Records and Achievements

Personal Records

World Records

Television Shows

See also

In Spanish: Lee Sang-Hwa para niños