Ahn Hyun Soo

Ahn Hyun Soo (안현수, born November 23, 1985 in Seoul) is a Short track speed skating athlete from South Korea. He participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, but returned home without a medal after a controversial finish involving Apolo Ohno and Li Jiajun. In the 2006 Winter Olympics, Ahn won gold medals in the 1500 m and 1000 m events. He set a new Olympic record time of 1:26.739 in the 1000 m, finishing ahead of teammate Lee Ho-Suk and rival Ohno. Ahn also won gold in Men's 5000 m relay along with teammates Lee Ho-Suk (이호석), Seo Ho-Jin, and Song Suk-Woo. He became the second Korean athelete ever to win three gold medals in one Olympics. (Jin Sun-Yu (진선유) accomplished this earlier on the same day.) He also won a bronze medal in the 500 m event.

Rarely taking the lead position throughout the entire race, Ahn's strategy is to follow the leaders, then sprint using an outside passing lane (or occasionally an inside passing lane if the opportunity arises) with only two or three laps to go. In the 5000 m relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Ahn made a brilliant pass around defending Olympic champion Canada on the final lap, helping Korea earn the victory. Sports commentators often refer to his "patented outside pass" due to its consistency and tremendous effectiveness.

Ahn first began skating in elementary school. The first time he watched the sport on television was during the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer where one of his heroes, Chae Ji-Hoon, took gold in the 500 m and silver in the 1000 m for South Korea. His coach, Kim Ki-Hoon, was the olympic double gold medalist who scouted Ahn and continues to train him. He trains ten hours every day from techniques, speed, and endurance to video analysis.

Ahn Hyun Soo won a total of 4 medals in the 2006 Games, an unprecedented result by any athelete in his sport. He is the first Korean man to win at least 3 medals in a single Winter Olympics.

Ahn won the world junior short track championship in 2002, and finished second to Kim Dong-Sung at his first senior-level world championship competition the same year. Ahn is a four-time world champion, having won four consecutive overall titles from 2003 to 2006. Despite being disqualified in the finals of the 500 m and 3000 m events at the 2006 World Championships in Minneapolis, Ahn was able to claim the championship with victories in both the 1000 m and 1500 m events and became the overall world champion with 68 points followed by countryman Lee Ho-Suk with 60 points.

Ahn is the only male short track skater to win four consecutive world championships; Canadian short track legend Marc Gagnon has also won four times, but his titles did not come back to back.

Ahn Hyun Soo finished first in the overall World Cup rankings during 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 seasons. He is also the current world record holder for 1500 m and 3000 m events.

After the world championships, Ahn flew back to Korea. At the Incheon International Airport, Ahn's father, Ahn Ki-Won, slapped the vice presdient of the Korean Skating Union (KSU), claiming that the coach that did not associate with Ahn and conspired with other skaters to prevent Ahn from winning the title of the overall champion. The Korean short track team was split into two groups in which Ahn is coached by the women's coach due to conflicts with the men's coach. The tensions have risen so high that the skaters have refused to dine in the same room, sit next to each other on the plane, or even share the same floor with each other. Ahn and Lee Ho-Suk used to attend the same high school together, and even shared a room last year in skating camps, but now rarely talk to each other. Ahn has mentioned on his personal website that the pressure is too much for him and he has thought of quitting the sport. Due to the issue, KSU has claimed that starting next season, the team will be united under one head coach to prevent deliterious rivalries. ^*

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