Lee Jung-su

Lee Jung-su (; ; born November 30, 1989) is a South Korean short track speed skater. He is a two-time Olympic Champion from 2010 Winter Olympics.

Lee won one distances and became second overall at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Bolzano. He won 2009–2010 Overall World Cup. At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Lee won two gold medal in the 1000m and 1500m events.

Early life and education Lee was born in 1989 as the 25th generation of the Injegong branch in the Hansan Lee clan. Lee's father, Lee Do-won is a department manager at the Kyunghyang Sinmun newspaper. Lee's family members are devoted Buddhists. Lee started skating as a hobby in 2002 when he was in fourth grade at Seongok Elementary School. The school in the neighborhood of Wolgye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul is located next to the ice rink at Kwangwoon University. Lee's older sister, Lee Hwa-yeong was a figure skater regarded as a rising rookie, who won an elementary competition at the Korean National Sports Festival when she was in 6th grade. During the time, Lee's coach recommended Lee to be a professional skater. As Lee's school established a skating team, Lee joined it. Two years later, he switched from long track speed skating to short track speed skating.

On the other hand, Lee's parents had financial difficulties in supporting their children's dream. They had to spend over 2,000,000 won (approximately US$1,736) per month for the fees of skating lessons, purchasing skating tools and renting exercising locations. Although Lee's parents worked together, spent all savings and even sold paddy fields in a countryside to support their children, that was not enough to cover all. They finally had to loan mortgages on their house where the family was living.

Lee graduated from Gwangmun High School, and Dankook University.

On May 19, 2010, the Korea Skating Union and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee reduced the ban on Lee Jung-soo and Kwak Yoon-gy from three years to one year. Through an appeal, it was reduced to six months again on July 20, 2010. But Kwak's coach Jeon Jae-Mok was given a life ban. and 2010 Vancouver Olympic head coach Kim Ki-hoon, who participated in the match-fixing, was suspended for three years, and coaches Song Jae-kun and Choi Kwang-bok were also suspended for one year.

Lee joined the national team again in the 2011–2012 season and won the bronze medal in the 5000m relay at the World Championships.

Switching disclplines After failing to gain selection for the Korean short track team ahead of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, he switched to speed skating in an attempt to qualify for the event. He did not finish high enough at the Olympic trials, and in April 2014 he announced he would be returning to short track. He made the same switch in August 2017 to try and gain selection for the national speed skating team ahead of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. His focus was specifically the mass start event

Career highlights

ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2008 – Bolzano, 2nd overall classification 1st at 500m

Winter Olympic Games 2010 – Vancouver, Gold at 1000m and 1500m