Olympic Short-Track Speedskating Schedule 2018: Live-Stream Info for Tuesday
Tuesday is expected to be a showcase of South Korean short-track speedskating at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The host nation's athletes should post top times in the qualification heats of the women's 1,000 meters, and it enters the women's 3,000-meter relay as the gold-medal favorite.
Shim Suk-hee and Choi Min-jeong are the names to watch in the individual event, and they will be relied upon to lead South Korea to an Olympic medal on home ice at Gangneung Ice Arena.
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In the men's 500-meters heats, Seo Yi-ra is expected to put a show for the home fans, while numerous medalists from the 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters, including John-Henry Krueger of the United States, attempt to cruise into the quarterfinal round.
Tuesday Short-Track Speedskating Schedule
Women's 1,000-meters heats (5 a.m. ET)
Men's 500-meters heats (5:45 a.m. ET)
Women's 3,000-meter relay "B" final (6:23 a.m. ET)
Women's 3,000-meter relay "A" final (6:29 a.m. ET)
All events can be live-streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
South Korea Favored in Women's 3,000-Meter Relay
The only short-track gold handed out Tuesday should belong to South Korea, but it is expected to face a challenge from the three other nations in the chaotic relay event.
The South Korean 3,000-meter relay team is the gold standard for the country's short-track program, as it had captured five of the past six Olympic titles and is the event's world-record holder.
Shim and Choi should use the qualification heats of the women's 1,000-meters as warm-up races for the relay in which they'll pull most of the team's weight.
Choi already has a gold from the women's 1,500 meters in Pyeongchang, while Shim has a relay gold, a silver and a bronze from four years ago in her trophy cabinet.
Although they are the favorites to win, the South Koreans enter with the third-best qualification time after China and Italy advanced out of a fast heat that included three teams that went under four minutes, six seconds.
China's time of four minutes, 5.315 seconds broke an Olympic record it set at the Vancouver Games in 2010.
South Korea cruised to victory in its heat in a time of four minutes, 6.387 seconds, which was a full second ahead of Canada in second place.
The showdown between South Korea and China should be one of the top races of the short-track schedule, and with Canada and Italy capable of taking gold as well, the final could be frenetic and feature a plethora of lead changes.
Krueger Begins Quest for 2nd Olympic Medal
After taking home the first American individual short-track medal since 2010 in the men's 1,000 meters Saturday, Krueger begins the search for his second medal Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Pittsburgh native has a lot of work to do just to get out of his qualification heat, as it contains a pair of Olympic medalists in China's Han Tianyu and Semen Elistratov of the Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Also included in the loaded final heat is Hungary's Shaolin Sandor Liu, who captured the 500-meters title at the 2016 World Championships.
If Krueger comes out of what is expected to be one of the fastest heats in first or second, it will be seen as a massive accomplishment for a skater who enters as a considerable underdog.
Aaron Tran and Thomas Insuk Hong are the two other Americans entered in the event. Tran competes in Heat 1 alongside China's Wu Dajing, who is one of the gold-medal favorites, while Hong races in Heat 7 with Japan's Keita Watanabe expected to win the qualification race.
Other names to watch during the eight qualification heats are Canada's Charles Hamelin and Sam Girard, both of whom are looking to earn Canada's fifth short-track gold in the past three Olympics.
Shim, Choi Expected to Lead Women's 1,000M Qualifying
Before they lead South Korea in the women's 3,000-meter relay final, Shim and Choi should set two of the best times in the women's 1,000-meters qualifying.
Shim, who set the world record in the event in 2012, kicks off the round of eight heats as the marquee competitor in Heat 1.
The 21-year-old phenom has been one of the top short-track racers since she burst on to the senior circuit in 2012, but she hasn't tasted individual glory at the Olympics, with her best finish in Sochi earning her a silver in the 1,500 meters.
Choi, who won gold in the women's 1,500 meters, drew the top position in Heat 2, a race in which she should cruise to the top spot.
Other medal contenders looking to top the qualifying chart include Elise Christie of Great Britain, who crashed out of the 1,500 meters in the semifinal round, and Canada's Marianne St-Gelais.
Jessica Kooreman and Lana Gehring are the American competitors hoping to advance to Thursday's quarterfinals.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Olympic.org.
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