Olympic Speedskating Results 2018: Lee Seung-Hoon Wins Men's Mass Start Gold
Lee Seung-Hoon won gold for South Korea in a dramatic Winter Olympics final of the men's long-track speedskating mass start on Saturday.
Lee timed his burst to perfection in the final stages to take the 60 points needed for victory, holding off the fast-finishing Bart Swings from Belgium and the Netherlands' Koen Verweij.
Here are the results from the mass start race as the long-track schedule came to a conclusion on Saturday:
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Men's Mass Start
1. Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR) - 60 points
2. Bart Swings (BEL) - 40 points
3. Koen Verweij (NED) - 20 points
For the race result in full visit the Pyeongchang website.
Lee Gives Hosts First Long-Track Gold
The mass start is a new one for watchers of the Winter Olympics, and the semi-finals proved to be especially tactical.
The 7Olympics Twitter account provided a breakdown of how you pick up points:
The men's semis were intriguing spectacles too, although there were no major surprises as the racers fought for a position in the final.
World champion Joey Mantia progressed into the final after finishing second in one of the intermediate sprints, as did one of the big favourites for gold in Lee. The Netherlands' Sven Kramer also did enough to get into the 12-man scrap for gold.
Linus Heidegger of Austria crossed the line first in the first of the semis, while New Zealand's Peter Michael won the second.
BBC Sport relayed the qualifiers after a couple of fascinating semi-final battles:
The tactics in the final were much different. With winning, not qualifying, the order of the day for the competitors now, the race was always going to be geared towards crossing the line first and trying to take a haul of 60 points.
The results of the intermediate sprints were almost certainly only to have an effect on the minor places.
It was no surprise to see the experienced Kramer move up to the head of the field and try to dictate the pace to begin with, although the speed soon quickened as competitors tried to earn some minor points.
Heidegger won the battle for the first intermediate sprint, while Viktor Hald Thorup took the second. Meanwhile, the third wasn't too hotly contested, as Livio Wenger beat Thorup to it, and the medal favourites started jostling behind.
It was at this juncture when the race really caught alight, as Kramer, the distance specialist, made a break for gold four laps from the finish. He was initially able to put a big gap between himself and the rest of the field.
However, as the bell rang to signify the final lap, a swarm of skaters gobbled Kramer up, and Lee moved his way up to the front of the pack.
Swings and Verweij appeared to be cutting the gap down as the leading trio rounded the final bend. But with the home crowd roaring him on down the home straight, there was no chance of Lee letting this one go.
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