Shim Suk-hee

Shim Suk-hee

Shim Suk-hee at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games
Personal information
Born	(1997-01-30) 30 January 1997 (age 19) Gangneung, South Korea
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	56 kg (123 lb; 8.8 st)
Sport
Country	South Korea
Sport	Speed skating
Achievements and titles
World finals	World Championship 2014 Overall World Cup 2013–14 Overall 2012–13 Overall
Medal record Olympic Games 2014 Sochi 3000 m relay 2014 Sochi 1500 m 2014 Sochi 1000 m World Championships 2013 Debrecen 3000 m 2014 Montreal Overall 2014 Montreal 1000 m 2014 Montreal 1500 m 2014 Montreal 3000 m 2015 Moscow 3000 m relay 2016 Seoul 3000 m relay 2013 Debrecen 1500 m 2015 Moscow 1500 m 2015 Moscow 3000 m 2013 Debrecen Overall 2015 Moscow Overall World Junior Championships 2012 Melbourne Overall Youth Olympic Games 2012 Innsbruck 500 m 2012 Innsbruck 1000 m Representing Mixed-NOCs Youth Olympic Games 2012 Innsbruck Mixed team relay

Shim Suk-hee (Hangul: 심석희; born 30 January 1997) is a South Korean short track speed skater. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, she won gold in the 3000 metre relay as part of the South Korean relay team, silver in the 1500 metres, and bronze in the 1000 metres.

At the age of 6, Shim started short track speed skating in her howntown Gangneung as a hobby.

In late 2011 Shim made the South Korea's World Junior Championships Team at age 14. In January 2012, she participated in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics held in Innsbruck, where she swept all two individual events (500 m, 1000 m). She also earned the bronze medal in the 3000 m mixed-country/gender relay as a member of the mixed team made up of skaters representing different nations.

A month after the Youth Olympics, Shim competed in the 2012 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships held in Melbourne, where she won gold in all events available (overall, 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, relay) except for the 1500-metre super final. In the 500 metres, Shim won gold in dominating style, recording a time of 44.113. That time was 0.652 seconds faster than runner-up Agnė Sereikaitė of Lithuania. In the 1000 metres, Shim broke the 9-year-old world junior 1000-metre record of 1:30.483 established by Byun Chun-sa of South Korea in 2003, finishing 1000 m in 1:30.266 in the semifinal race. Shim set a world junior record again in the 1000 m final race with a time of 1:30.208, beating South Korean fellow Hwang Hyun-sun, a member of the senior national team, by 0.106 seconds. Shim also won the 1500 metres with a time of 2:21.987, beating Hwang again by 0.082 seconds.

Shim was selected for the 2012–2013 South Korean national team at age 15 by capturing first place at the national trial competition in April 2012. She won the 1500 metres and 1000 metres at the first race of the 2012–2013 World Cup in Calgary, her first senior level world competition. She also set a 1000 m world record of 1:26.661 in the semifinals on 21 October 2012, which was almost a second faster than the previous world record (1:27.653) set by Valérie Maltais two days ago. Shim continued her successful run at the second 2012–2013 World Cup race in Montreal, where she won her second 1500 m gold medal. At the third race in Nagoya, Shim archived a podium finish in the 500 metres for the first time and won another gold in the 1500 metres. She eventually became the 1500 metres champion for the 2012–13 World Cup season clinching 1500 m gold at all six races, and became the runner-up behind Elise Christie in the 1000 metres with three gold medals. She also finished first in the overall 2012–2013 World Cup standings.