Lee Sang-hwa

	Lee Sang-hwa
nation	South Korea
birthday	February 25, 1989
Career
status	resigned
End of career	16th May 2019
Medal table
winter Olympics
Sprint World Championships
Individual distance world championships
	Placements in the speed skating world cup
Debut in the World Cup	2004
World Cup victories	37
Total toilet 100	2. (2005/06)
Total toilet 500	1. (2012/13)
	last change: February 18, 2016

Lee Sang-hwa ( 이상화 ; * February 25, 1989 ) is a former South Korean speed skater who specialized in sprint courses and was Olympic champion in the 500 m in 2010 and 2014 .

Career

In the 2004/05 season Lee made his debut in the World Cup. Over the 1000 meters she was able to achieve respectable successes such as an 11th place in December 2004 at the World Cup in Harbin . She is far more successful over the 500 meters. Here she was able to achieve several places on the podium in the World Cup. She even won her first World Cup over 100 meters at the World Cup finals in March 2006. In the overall World Cup she also achieved an outstanding result with second place, which was supplemented with sixth overall place over the 500 meters. At the national South Korean championships in 2004 and 2005 she was five times national champion and once runner-up. In 2005 she set a junior world record over 100 meters, over 500 m she even improved her own world record within two days.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Lee took fifth place over 2 × 500 meters, at the individual distance world championships in 2007 and 2008 she just missed the bronze medal and took fourth place over 2 × 500 meters.

Lee achieved her greatest success at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , where she won the gold medal over 500 meters. In the same year she also won the Sprint World Championships in Obihiro . In 2012 Lee won a gold medal over 2 × 500 meters for the first time at the individual distance world championship in Heerenveen . A year later she finished third at the 2013 Sprint World Championships in Salt Lake City . In the 2012/13 World Cup , she was able to win the overall World Cup over 500 meters for the first time in her career. At the 2013 World Cup in Sochi , Lee successfully defended her title over 2 × 500 meters. She won both races by a clear margin and was able to assert herself with confidence. She defended her Olympic gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

She ended her active career on May 16, 2019.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Olympic champion Lee Sang-hwa ends her career. sport.orf.at, May 16, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .
↑ Kang Hyun-kyung: Olympic champion Lee Sang-hwa bids tearful goodbye. In: The Korea Times . May 16, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	Lee, Sang-hwa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lee, Sanghwa; 이상화 (Hangeul)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	South Korean speed skater
DATE OF BIRTH	February 25, 1989

[1] Olympic champion Lee Sang-hwa ends her career. sport.orf.at, May 16, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .

[2] Kang Hyun-kyung: Olympic champion Lee Sang-hwa bids tearful goodbye. In: The Korea Times . May 16, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .