Mo Tae-bum
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 February 1989 Seoul, South Korea |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb; 11.3 st) |
| Sport | |
| Country |
 South Korea
|
| Sport | Speed skating |
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Medal record
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| Mo Tae-bum | |
| Hangul | 모태범 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 牟太釩 |
| Revised Romanization | Mo Taebeom |
| McCune–Reischauer | Mo Taebŏm |
Mo Tae-bum (Hangul: 모태범, Hanja: 牟太釩;Korean pronunciation: [mo.tʰɛ̝.bʌm]; born 15 February 1989) 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.
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.
Mo Tae-bum was born in Seoul to father Mo Yeong-yeol and mother Jeong Yeon-hwa in 1989. 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. 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.
As of 2010, Mo is a junior at Korea National Sport University. Mo currently lives with his parents in Pocheon, Gyeonggi province.
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