Mo Tae-bum

Mo Tae-bum (Korean: 모태범, Hanja: 牟太釩;[1] Korean pronunciation: [mo.tʰɛ̝.bʌm]; born 15 February 1989[2]) is a South Korean speed skater. He is the 2010 Olympic Champion and the 2012 and 2013 World Champion in 500 m. He started speedskating while in the third grade. Prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Mo won two distances at the 2006 World Junior Speed Skating Championships. He has competed on the national level since 2004 and has competed internationally since 2005.

Mo Tae-bum
Personal information
Born (1989-02-15) 15 February 1989
Seoul, South Korea
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb; 11.3 st)
Sport
Country South Korea
SportSpeed skating
Medal record
Men's speed skating
Representing  South Korea
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 0
World Sprint Championships 0 1 1
World Single Distance Championships 2 1 0
Winter Universiade 2 0 0
World Junior Championships 2 0 0
Asian Winter Games 0 2 0
Total 7 5 1
Olympic Games
2010 Vancouver500 m
2010 Vancouver1000 m
World Sprint Championships
2011 HeerenveenSprint
2012 CalgarySprint
World Single Distance Championships
2012 Heerenveen500 m
2013 Sochi500 m
2013 Sochi1000 m
Winter Universiade
2009 Harbin1000 m
2009 Harbin1500 m
2007 Turin500 m
2007 Turin1500 m
World Junior Championships
2006 Erfurt500 m
2006 Erfurt1500 m
Asian Winter Games
2011 Astana-Almaty1500 m
2011 Astana-AlmatyTeam pursuit
Mo Tae-bum
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationMo Taebeom
McCune–ReischauerMo Taebŏm
In this Korean name, the family name is Mo.
Mo Tae-bum during the 500 m speed skating competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

He won two Junior World Championships in 2006, but did not win any other events until 2009. In 2009 he won gold in the 1000 m and 1500 m events at the Winter Universiade. The international community gave him little attention before the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, but he became the first Korean to win a gold medal in a long track speed skating event as well as earning the silver medal in the 1000 m race. This was a large upset, as he was ranked fourteenth in the world in the 500 m race. Lee Myung-bak congratulated Mo for his achievements in speed skating following these wins.

Personal life

Mo Tae-bum was born in Seoul to father Mo Yeong-yeol and mother Jeong Yeon-hwa in 1989.[3] He has one elder sister, Mo Eun-yeong. Mo started skating when his father suggested it while he was in third grade at Eunseok Elementary School. His participation in the school skating team led him to win a cup from rival Lila Elementary School, which had dominated the age group at that time. Since then, Mo has been a close friend to Lee Seung-hoon, a fellow speed skater who also won a silver and a gold medal from the 2010 Winter Olympics.[4] As Mo grew older, he almost gave up skating but, after three years of indecision, he decided against giving it up on the advice of his mother. Mo and his family currently live in the city of Pocheon, Gyeonggi province.[4]

As of 2010, Mo is a junior at Korea National Sport University.[5]

Junior career

Mo's first event was at the 2005 South Korean Single Distance Championships, which occurred on 23 and 24 November 2004.[6] He finished tenth in the 1000 m race with a time of 1:16.81 and third in the 1500 m event with a time of 1:59.47.[6] His next event was the 2005 World Junior Speed Skating Championships, where he participated in the 500, 1500, 3000 and 5000 m events. However, he did not finish in the top ten in any event except the 500 m, in which he took fifth place with a time of 38.21.[6]

In 2006, he attended the 2006 South Korean Sprint Championship, participating in the 500 m, 1000 m, and Samalog events[6] as well as in the 1000 m event at the 2006 South Korean Single Distance Championships, where he finished in fifth place with a time of 1:13.99. He participated in the last eligible race of his junior career at the 2006 World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Erfurt, taking first place in both the 500 m, with a time of 35.83, and the 1500 m, with a time of 1:49.71.[6]

Adult career

Prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Mo had never won a non-junior race.[6][7] His first adult competition was in the 2007 South Korean Single Distance Championships. He did not place in the top ten in an individual event at the 2008–09 World Cup, finishing in tenth place overall. At the 2009 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, he came in eighth place in the 1000 m event with a time of 1:10.11, and eleventh place with a time of 1:48.07 in the 1500 m event.[7]

At the 2009 Winter Universiade, he won the 1000 and 1500 m events.[2][8]

He has a rivalry with speed skater Shani Davis, who has been faster in all four 1000 m races in the 2009–10 season. However, Mo has always been in second or third place in these races.[9]

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Mo qualified for the 500, 1000 and 1500 m events at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and was an alternate for the men's team pursuit. He won the gold medal in the 500 m event with a time of 34.92 for his first run and 34.90 for his second run.[7][10] He won the event on his 21st birthday, and was the first Korean to win an Olympic gold medal in an event outside of short track speed skating. He beat fellow South Koreans Lee Kang-seok and Lee Kyou-hyuk, who were ranked one and two in the world respectively,[10] and celebrated by skating around the ice with a gaudy helmet.[11] He also won a silver medal in the 1000 m event, missing the gold medal, won by Shani Davis, by 18 hundredths of a second, but became the first South Korean to win two medals in an event other than short track speed skating.[12] Mo finished fifth at the 1500 m event, with a time of 1:46.47.[13]

Response to gold medal

Mo had been seen as a dark horse, ranked fourteenth in the world, and was surprised by his win.[2][10][14] Park Pil-soon, head of the Korean Olympic Committee's international affairs department commented, "Mo was an unknown, and his gold medal win marks the start of a new generation in South Korean speed skating after Lee Kyou-hyuk."[10] In an interview after the event, he described himself as a risk-taker, and expressed interests in cars and motorcycles.[14] President Lee Myung-bak sent a message congratulating Mo, calling him a "proud treasure who rewrote South Korea's speed skating history", and said that he brought jubilation to the South Korean people with his strong spirit and excellent skills.[15]

Before the Olympics started the Korean Olympic Team held a press conference; however, he was asked few questions. He stated that, although it was disappointing, it helped him focus on the race. After the race, he personally reacted by stating that he "only imagined and dreamed about it" and saw it as a warm-up for his main event, the 1000 m.[16]

He received a warm welcome when he returned to Korea, and his parents greeted him with a homemade banner.[17]

Personal records
Event Time[18]
500 m 34.28
1000 m 1:07.26
1500 m 1:42.85
3000 m 3:58.05
5000 m 7:03.38

References
  1. 모태범 [Mo Tae-Bum] (in Korean). Korean Olympic Committee. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  2. Kang, Seung-woo (16 February 2010). "Mo Wins Men's 500 Meters". Seoul: The Korea Times. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  3. Song, In-geun (송인근) (2010-02-16). "장하다 막둥아!"...모태범 선수 가족들 '환호성' (in Korean). SBS.
  4. "⟨올림픽⟩ 모태범 가족 "최고의 생일선물"(종합)" [⟨Olympic⟩ Mo Tae-Bum's family "The best birthday present" (general)] (in Korean). Yonhap. 2010-02-16.
  5. '금메달' 모태범-이상화 심상찮은 사이? (in Korean). Yonhap. 17 February 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  6. "SkateResults: Results for Mo Tae-Beom". Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  7. "Tae-Bum Mo, Speed Skating". IOC. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  8. "Korea won the gold in Men' s 1500 m Speed Skating". Harbin Winter Games. 22 February 2009. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  9. "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  10. "Historic win gives South Korea's Mo a golden birthday". Seoul: Earth Times. 16 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  11. "Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea celebrates winning the gold in the men's speed skating 500 m final on day 4 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics". Canada: IOC/Getty Images. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  12. "(LEAD)(Winter Olympics) Mo Tae-bum wins silver in men's 1,000 m speed skating". Yonhap News. Vancouver. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  13. "Mo Tae-Bum – Vancouver 2010". ESPN. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  14. Fine, Larry (16 February 2010). "Speed skater Mo Tae-bum shocks himself with birthday gold". Vancouver: Reuters Canada. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  15. "President Lee sends congratulatory message to speed skating gold medalist". Seoul. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  16. "Mo Tae-bum Wins Korea's 1st Olympic Gold in Speed Skating". Chosun Ilbo English. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  17. Hong, Esther (2 March 2010). "Kim leads jubilant SKorean team home from Olympics". Seoul: Associated Press. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  18. "SpeedSkatingBase: Tae-Bum Mo". 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
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