Education
He nearly gave up the sport in order to continue his schooling, but chose to continue training as a professional speedskater.
成始柏
He nearly gave up the sport in order to continue his schooling, but chose to continue training as a professional speedskater.
He qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Sung was in medal contention leading into the final lap of the 1500 m event there, when a crash between him and a teammate led to his finishing in 5th place. Sung"s career in the short track speed skating world cup has been a successful one.
In the 500 m, he took first place in the 2007/2008 season, second in the 2008/2009 season, and third in the 2009/2010 season.
In the 1500 m, he was first in 2008/2009 and third in 2009/2010. He has also seen some success in World Championships.
Sung was selected for the South Korean team at the 2010 Winter Olympics to compete in four events, the 500 m, the 1000 m, the 1500 m, and the 5000 m team relay. In the first of these events, the 1500 m, Sung was among the three leading skaters, all South Koreans, going into the final lap when he was taken out by his teammate Lee Ho-Suk who attempted to pass him and both collided and slid into the wall.
The fall allowed Americans Apolo Anton Ohno and J. R. Celski to take silver and bronze.
Lee Ho-Suk was disqualified for causing the fall, and Sung who would have gotten silver, finished in 5th place. In the heat race for the 1000 m competition, he set an Olympic Record with a time of 1:24.245. However, disappointingly he didn"t advance to the finals as he finished third in the semi-finals.
During the pre-finals of 1000 m, he was disqualified from the event for bumping another skater.
In the 500m Olympic Final, Sung was in the lead but slipped in the final corner before making contact with Charles Hamelin, and ended up crossing the finish line third. However, he was able to take the Silver medal due to a disqualification of Apolo Ohno.