South Korean skater wins silver after team pursuit dispute

Speedskater Kim Bo-reum has gone from being the target of an online petition calling for her to be expelled from the Pyeongchang Olympics to earning a spot on the medals podium.

The South Korean skater took silver in the women's mass start on the final night of speedskating competition Saturday at her home games.

She leaned over and sobbed after the 16-lap race ended.

Silver medalist Kim Bo-reum of South Korea cries on the podium after the women's mass start speedskating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/John Locher)

After the race, Kim skated around carrying the South Korean flag. She stopped at one end of Gangneung Oval, laid the flag on the ice, bowed to the crowd, dropped to her knees and placed her head on her hands.

"I am so sorry for the Korean people," Kim said afterward. "I am really sorry because I was in the middle of the big trouble."

Kim and Park Ji-woo left their slower teammate Noh Seon-yeong behind in the team pursuit quarterfinals last Monday. Noh finished that race nearly four seconds after her teammates did. Cameras showed Kim and Park moving away after the race while Noh cried in the infield at the oval.

Some South Koreans believe Kim and Park were trying to humiliate Noh because there was nothing to be gained by crossing first. In team pursuit, the finishing time for the team is set by the third of the three skaters crossing the line.

Nearly 600,000 signatures were on an online petition to South Korea's presidential office calling for skaters Kim and Park to be expelled from the games.

Silver medalist Kim Bo-reum of South Korea celebrates after the women's mass start final speedskating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Kim had triggered public anger with comments many saw as putting the blame on Noh.

"If our last skater had come in a bit earlier we might have made the semifinals," Kim said.

Kim appeared at a news conference with her coach last Tuesday and tearfully offered her "sincere apology" and said she didn't realize Noh was that far off until it was too late.

Kim, Park and Noh reunited last Wednesday to compete in the race to decide seventh-place in team pursuit. They lost to Poland and finished eighth.

On Saturday, Nana Takagi of Japan blasted past the opposition in the final straightaway to win the debut of women's mass start.

Gold medalist Nana Takagi of Japan, center, silver medalist Kim Bo-reum of South Korea, right, bronze medalist Irene Schouten of The Netherlands, and fourth place Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy sprint towards the finish line of the women's mass start final speedskating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Kim didn't smile on the medals podium like Takagi and bronze medalist Irene Schouten of the Netherlands.

"I wanted to deeply apologize for the concerns that I caused to the Korean people," she said.

Kim became the second South Korean woman to win a speedskating medal, joining Lee Sang-hwa, who won the 500 meters in Vancouver and Sochi and silver this time.

"I am very happy with this medal," Kim said. "I will treasure this medal forever. Ever since when I started at 14 or 15 I wanted to get a medal and I am very happy to get this medal for my country."

The host country claimed seven medals at the oval, including its only gold by Lee Seung-hoon in men's mass start.

Silver medalist Kim Bo-reum of South Korea cries after the women's mass start finalspeedskating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Gold medalist Nana Takagi of Japan, center, silver medalist Kim Bo-reum of South Korea, left, and bronze medalist Irene Schouten of The Netherlands, celebrate on the podium of the women's mass start speedskating race at the Gangneung Oval at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/John Locher)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)