Viktor An

In this Korean name, the family name is Ahn.

Viktor An (Russian: Виктор Ан; born Ahn Hyun-soo (Korean: 안현수) on November 23, 1985),^[5] is a South Korean-born Russian short-track speed skating coach and retired short-track speed skater. With a total of eight Olympic medals, six gold and two bronze, he is the only short track speed skater in Olympic history to win gold in every distance, and the first to win a medal in every distance at a single Games.^[6] He has the most Olympic gold medals in the sport, three of which he won in the 2006 Winter Olympics and the other three in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Considered to be the greatest short track speed skater of all time, he is a six-time overall World champion (2003-2007, 2014), two-time overall World Cup winner (2003–04, 2005–06), and the 2014 European champion. He holds the most overall titles at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, and is the only male short track skater to win five consecutive world titles.^[7]

Viktor An

Ahn in 2016
Personal information
Birth name	Ahn Hyun-soo 안현수
Born	(1985-11-23) November 23, 1985 (age 38) Seoul, South Korea
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)^[1]
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)^[1]
Spouse	Woo Nari ​ (m. 2014)​
Sport
Country	South Korea (until 2011)  Russia (since 2011)
Sport	Short track speed skating
Retired	April 27, 2020
Achievements and titles
World finals	World Championship 2014 Overall 2007 Overall 2006 Overall 2005 Overall 2004 Overall 2003 Overall World Cup 2006 Overall 2004 Overall
Personal best(s)	500 m: 39.961 (2019)^[2] 1000 m: 1:23.487 (2013)^[2] 1500 m: 2:10.639 (2003, Former WR)^[2]^[3] 3000 m: 4:32.646 (2003, Former WR)^[2]^[4]
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 6 0 2 World Championships 20 10 5 World Team Championships 2 3 1 European Championships 8 6 2 World Junior Championships 4 0 1 Winter Universiade 3 0 1 Asian Games 5 1 0 Total 48 20 12 Representing  Russia Olympic Games 2014 Sochi 500 m 2014 Sochi 1000 m 2014 Sochi 5000 m relay 2014 Sochi 1500 m World Championships 2014 Montreal Overall 2014 Montreal 1000 m 2013 Debrecen 500 m 2013 Debrecen 5000 m relay 2014 Montreal 3000 m 2017 Rotterdam 3000 m European Championships 2013 Malmö 5000 m relay 2014 Debrecen Overall 2014 Debrecen 500 m 2014 Debrecen 1000 m 2014 Debrecen 3000 m 2014 Debrecen 5000 m relay 2015 Dordrecht 500 m 2015 Dordrecht 5000 m relay 2013 Malmö 1000m 2015 Dordrecht Overall 2015 Dordrecht 3000 m 2017 Turin 5000 m relay 2018 Dresden 500 m 2018 Dresden 5000 m relay 2013 Malmö 500 m 2017 Turin 500 m Representing  South Korea Olympic Games 2006 Turin 1000 m 2006 Turin 1500 m 2006 Turin 5000 m relay 2006 Turin 500 m World Championships 2002 Montreal 5000 m relay 2003 Warsaw Overall 2003 Warsaw 1500 m 2003 Warsaw 3000 m 2003 Warsaw 5000 m relay 2004 Gothenburg Overall 2004 Gothenburg 1000 m 2004 Gothenburg 1500 m 2004 Gothenburg 3000 m 2004 Gothenburg 5000 m relay 2005 Beijing Overall 2005 Beijing 1500 m 2006 Minneapolis Overall 2006 Minneapolis 1000 m 2006 Minneapolis 1500 m 2007 Milan Overall 2007 Milan 1000 m 2007 Milan 5000 m relay 2002 Montreal Overall 2002 Montreal 1000 m 2002 Montreal 3000 m 2003 Warsaw 1000 m 2005 Beijing 1000 m 2005 Beijing 3000 m 2005 Beijing 5000 m relay 2007 Milan 3000 m 2005 Beijing 500 m 2007 Milan 500 m 2007 Milan 1500 m World Team Championships 2004 St. Petersburg Team 2006 Montréal Team 2003 Sofia Team 2005 Chuncheon Team 2007 Budapest Team 2002 Milwaukee Team World Junior Championships 2002 Chuncheon Overall 2002 Chuncheon 1000 m 2002 Chuncheon 1500 m 2002 Chuncheon 2000 m relay 2002 Chuncheon 1500 m S.F. Winter Universiade 2005 Innsbruck 1500 m 2005 Innsbruck 3000 m 2005 Innsbruck 5000 m relay 2005 Innsbruck 1000 m Asian Winter Games 2003 Aomori 1000 m 2003 Aomori 1500 m 2003 Aomori 5000 m relay 2007 Changchun 1000 m 2007 Changchun 5000 m relay 2007 Changchun 1500 m

Victor An
Hangul	빅토르 안
Hanja	빅토르 安
Revised Romanization	Biktoreu An
McCune–Reischauer	Pikt'orŭ An
Ahn Hyun-soo
Hangul	안현수
Hanja	安賢洙
Revised Romanization	An Hyeonsu
McCune–Reischauer	An Hyŏnsu

In 2008, Ahn suffered a knee injury and could not regain his health by the time the national qualifiers for Vancouver 2010 came around. His recovery being slow and his South Korean local team dissolved in 2010,^[8][9] Ahn, aiming for his second Olympics, became a Russian citizen the next year and began racing for the Russian team. After winning gold in Sochi, Ahn explained his reasons for joining the Russian team saying, "I wanted to train in the best possible environment and I proved my decision was not wrong." As expected, a gold-winning athlete leaving the national team caused public uproar in South Korea. However, it was aimed not at Ahn, but at the country's skating union. Most South Korean fans in a poll said they understood his decision.^[10][11] Ahn continued his skating career in his adopted nation until 2019 and declared his retirement in April 2020.^[8][12]

In 2023, Ahn returned to Korea as a short track leader. Ahn returned to South Korea and applied to be a coach for Seongnam City's short track speed skating team, despite having renounced his South Korean citizenship when becoming Russian.^[13][14] However, since his change in 2014 he had been increasingly criticized for his work in Russia amid the Russo-Ukrainian War and his coaching position in the Chinese team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Some Korean coaches have formed The Korea Skating Coaches' Union and urged "Seongnam City to appoint a coach that meets the public eye level" and criticized Ahn that he "lied during the naturalization process and betrayed his country".^[15][16] and He was criticized by the public for betraying his country by transferring Korean sports skills to Russia and China. Ahn was eventually denied the coaching position due to significant public opposition.^[17]

After being denied his position as Seongnam City Hall coach due to strong public opposition, Ahn explained the controversy he knew about his loss of nationality in advance and receives a full Olympic medal pension prior to Russian naturalization. he said: "I donated every pension I had received prior to naturalization". According to his explanation and a Korean ice skating official mentioned in Chosun Ilbo shortly thereafter, the entire lump sum pension he received was spent on rehabilitating "children who needed heart surgery and Korean junior players".^[18][19] And he make his first start as a Korean Sports leader, being named as a coach in the 2023-2024 national team trials at the request of his juniors. The Korea Skating Union officially announced this through Yonhap News Agency, and the Korean media reported it collectively.^[20]

Early life and education

Ahn began skating in 1993 in his first year of primary 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.^[21] Incidentally, these were the Games where Russia achieved a national record of 11 Olympic golds, a feat that he himself would help to repeat twenty years later. His coach, Kim Ki-hoon, was a three-time Olympic gold medalist who scouted Ahn and continued to train him. He trained ten hours every day from techniques, speed, and endurance to video analysis.^[21]

Career

2000s

Early career and the 2002 Winter Olympics

Ahn made his international debut at the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in 2002. Finishing first in the 1500 m, 1000 m, and 5000 m relay events, he claimed the overall title.

Ahn then participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He made the finals for the 1000 m event but returned home without a medal, after a controversial fall involving Apolo Ohno, Li Jiajun, and Mathieu Turcotte that allowed Australian Steve Bradbury to sweep the gold medal. Ahn finished in fourth place, behind Ohno and Turcotte.^[1]

After the 2002 Olympics, Ahn finished second to Kim Dong-sung at his first senior-level world championship competition the same year, almost duplicating Kim's feat of winning both the Junior and Senior World Championship titles in 1997.

Ahn began dominating the sport from the 2002–2003 season. As well as claiming four overall and 1500 m World Championship titles in a row between 2003 and 2006, Ahn excelled himself at 1000 m and 3000 m during that period and also starred with the Republic of Korea's 5000 m relay team. In all, he won a total of 23 medals in that prolific spell, and took the 2004 and 2006 World Cup titles for good measure.^[5] He also set the world records for the 1500 m in 2003 at World Cup #2 in Marquette^[3] and the 3000 m at World Cup #4 in Beijing,^[4] which he held for the following eight years.

National team 'recommendation system'

South Korea has produced many outstanding short track speed skaters and is highly competitive in selecting the national team. Their key method of selecting players is to automatically select the best players in advance according to the comprehensive podium rankings of the World Championships. However, there is a system that has disappeared after much controversy and factional fight. It was the 'recommendation system'.^[22]

South Korea's elite sports system was strictly a top-down relationship between leaders and athletes. and the factions were formed according to the leaders and the factions of the players were also determined by their universities and leaders.^[23][24] And the players was disadvantaged if he disobeyed the instructions from the factional leader.^[25][26] Viktor Ahn is one of these representative players.

Ahn graduated from Korea National Sport University. His leaders were Kim Ki-hoon, a three-time Olympic champion,^[27] and Jun Myung-kyu, former vice president of the Korea Skating Union who was also the head coach of the Korean short track speed skating team from 1987 to 2002.^[28] Ahn as a junior, consistently excelled in Korea's domestic competitions and captured the Overall title at the Junior World Championships. Though he initially didn't participate in the national team trial, he was subsequently recommended to join the 2002 national team as a substitute for an injured player. This recommendation came from Park Seong-in, the president of the Korea Skating Union, and Yoo Tae-wook, the federation's director.^[29][30] After observing Ahn's stellar performance at the Junior World Championships, head coach Jun Myung-kyu chose him for the Olympic team. In a bold move, Jun opted for the 16-year-old, who lacked international experience, to compete in the 1000 m individual event, a decision that faced opposition from the Korea Skating Union and others.^[31][32] The 2002 Olympics was his Senior international debut. In addition to Ahn, many athletes and leaders were recommended by the Korea Skating Union. They were Chae Ji-hoon, Chun Lee-kyung, Kim So-hee,^[33] Choi Min-kyung^[34] Ko Gi-hyun, Lee Ho-suk, and Choi Eun-kyung,^[35] and also included were Kim Dong-sung and Kim Sun-tae, who were injured and failed to participate in the national team trials.^[36][37]

This referral system was used to discover talented players and give opportunities to injured players. However, there were players who were alienated, which led to conflict. In 2006, the recommendation system for selection of representative players of the Korea Skating Union disappeared from the national team trials as the conflict of factional fighting was exposed to the public.^[22]

2002-2005, KNSU and Non-KNSU

Factional fight in south Korean ice skating was allegedly mentioned as a form of Korea National Sport University (KNSU) and non-Korea National Sport University. But it was far more complicated inside. The power struggle of first-generation ice skating leaders, which started in the 1990s,^[38][39] changed form and influenced leaders, their direct disciples and athletes and changed their relationship.^[23][24] In 2002, when Ahn became a member of the national team, it was the time when Korean society was noisy due to the corruption of the ice skating world. Athletes and parents, who were University entrance students, gave money to professors who were influential in the ice skating world, and the professor received it. And the person who reported the case and accused his senior of corruption is Jun Myung-Kyu who becomes professor at the Korea National Sport University.^[40][41] In June 2003, Ahn decided to enter the Korea National Sport University in spite of exceptional conditions, including the guarantee of professor posts in other universities.^[42] The recommendation system that selected Ahn for the national team in 2002 had been in place since 1995, even before Ahn's inclusion.^[33] but in the process, At 16, he became the emblematic figure of the Korea National Sport University and professor Jun. And those on the other side accused 16-year-old Ahn of being responsible for factional conflicts in Korea's skating world.^[30][32]

In 2003-2004, when Ahn's heyday began, conflicts in the ice skating world and the tyranny of leaders were serious. In the national team Jun Myung-kyu stepped down from his post due to poor performance at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, and Olympic medalists Kim Ki-hoon took over the men's national team,^[43] but in 2004, Kim was forced to resign due to the controversy over forcing his athletes to wear skates made by the family-run skating company.^[44] In November 2004, Choi Eun-kyung, Byun Chun-sa etc six women's team members left the athletes' village due to the coach's habitual beating scandal.^[45][46] The coaches for the women's team have all been replaced.^[47][48] Two months later, Ahn was assaulted at the Winter Universiade in January 2005. The men's team coach Yoon had to resign after the World Team Championships in March due to controversy over match-fixing and assault allegations raised at the time.^[49] Kim Ki-hoon was reelected coach of the men's team for the Turin 2006 Olympics instead of Yoon Jae-Myung. However, in April 2005, seven other non-Korea National Sport University athletes, with the exception of Ahn Hyun-soo, declined to enter the athletes' village. They insisted, The main person is fixed. We can't trust a coach who favours a specific player. At the end of the day, Kim Ki-hoon resigns, saying, "I can't teach these players anymore."^[50] Kim Ki-hoon was professor Jun's direct disciple. Kim is known to have passed on special know-how skating skills to Ahn.^[30]

Kim Ki-hoon mentioned in an interview in 2018: "Ahn hyun-soo was really outstanding. Teach him one thing and he really absorbs it in like a sponge. Ahn was not the only one to teach more. I coached everyone on the national team, but Ahn came to see me more often."^[51]

2005, Conflict with Korea Skating Union

Ahn was reported to be the victim of senior player Seo Ho-jin's assault at the 2005 Winter Universiade. Though Seo was expelled from the national team and Yoon Jae-myung, head coach for the event, was dismissed on charges of match-fixing,^[49] Seo returned to the national team for the 2006 Winter Olympics the next year.

Ahn refused to join the national team and take training in 2005 and also confronted with the leaders of the Korea Skating Union. In July 2005, parents and coaches, including Ahn and Choi Eun-kyung, Sung Si-bak held a press conference and exposed coach Yoon Jae-myung's Aiding and abetting assault. It also called for the resignation of all federation leaders and announced its absence from the 2006 Turin Olympics.^[52] As a result, coach Yoon's appointment has been canceled. However, the conflict at that time was at its peak. At the height of the conflict, the Korea Skating Union dismissed the national team coach Chun Jae-Su, who had called for the resignation of the entire leadership, accusing him of stirring unrest among parents and athletes. He was subsequently suspended for six months. As a result, Ahn declined to train with the national team. Parents further alleged that there was political pressure exerted by a national assembly member associated with the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. This situation led Ahn to train with the women's team instead of the men's, presenting considerable challenges leading up to the 2006 Olympics.^[53] Prior to his naturalization in Russia in 2011, Ahn mentioned that during this difficult time, Sung Si-bak and Lee Seung-hoon, who weren't then part of the national team, supported him.^[54]

The issue came back to the fore after Ahn's victory as a Russian in the 2014 Winter Olympics, as the South Korean public questioned the Korea Skating Union of losing their biggest Olympic star. Regarding the uproar against him, Seo argued that the incident was just a form of discipline from senior to junior,^[55] but Ahn revealed in 2015 that he and his junior were hit with helmets on.^[56]

In 2014, some Korean media outlets criticized that there was a line that went down from Jun Myung-kyu - Kim Ki-hoon - Ahn Hyun-soo and it couldn't just blame the fact that the alienated players who became coaches held Ahn Hyun-soo in check to oppose Jun Myung-kyu, and Ahn Hyun-soo also wanted it or not, he also could not be free from the responsibility of factional fighting.^[57] However, in May 2005, The Hankyoreh newspaper reported:

The officials of the Korea Skating Union were investigated by police for receiving money from the father of a player who was disqualified for hitting a junior player at a Universiade in Austria earlier this year to return his son to the national team.^[58]

2006 Winter Olympics

At 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, Seo Ho-jin, and Song Suk-woo. With his patented outside overtaking maneuver, he overtook defending champion Canada to get his third gold medal of the Games.^[59][60] Ahn became the second South Korean athlete ever to win three gold medals in one Olympics, following Jin Sun-yu who had accomplished this earlier on the same day. He also won a bronze medal in the 500 m event.^[1] Ahn was the only athlete in Turin to step on to the podium four times.^[6]

Ahn became the first short track speed skater to win a medal in every distance at a single Games, a feat unprecedented by any athlete in his sport. He is the first South Korean man to win at least 3 medals in a single Winter Olympics.^[6][61]

Following the 2006 Olympics, Ahn maintained his record at the 2006 World Championships in Minneapolis. Despite being disqualified in the finals of the 500 m and 3000 m events, his victories in both the 1000 m and 1500 m events helped him defend his title with 68 points, followed by countryman Lee Ho-suk with 60 points. He became the first male short track skater to win four consecutive world titles.^[62][63]

After Torino

After the 2006 World Championships, Ahn flew back to South Korea. At Incheon International Airport, Ahn's father had a loud quarrel with the vice president of the Korea Skating Union (KSU), claiming that the coach did not associate with Ahn and conspired with other skaters to prevent Ahn from winning the title of overall champion.^[64][65]

Ahn collided with Lee Ho-suk and Oh Se-jong in the World Championship 3000m Super Final. The airport incident, which was reported on news screens, caused a stir in the media and the public along with factional issues. as a result, the Korea Skating Union said it would hold a committee meeting to consider disciplinary action. On April 26, 2006, the reward and punishment committee concluded that "it was not an intentional collision after playing the videos more than 100 times," and that Ahn Hyun-soo, Lee Ho-suk, and Oh Se-jong were all unintentional.^[66][67]

The South Korean short track team was split into two groups, in one of which Ahn was being coached by the women's coach Park Sae-woo due to conflicts with the men's coach Song Jae-kun. even though Ahn was the main player winning the gold medal in the Turin Olympics 5000m relay, the men's team members held a ceremony to their mentor commentator Lee Joon-ho, excluding only Ahn Hyun-soo. The tensions had risen so high that the skaters 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 the previous year in skating camps, but due to the conflict they had begun to rarely speak to each other.^[68][31] Ahn mentioned on his personal website that the pressure was too much for him and he contemplated quitting the sport. Due to the issue, KSU stated that starting next season, the team would be united under one head coach to prevent deleterious rivalries.^[65]

In spite of the conflicts, Ahn continued to dominate the sport. At the 2007 World Championships held in Milan, Ahn won his fifth world championship, finishing first in the 1000 m and in the 5000 m relay with teammates Kim Byeong-jun, Sung Si-bak, Song Kyung-taek, and Kim Hyun-kon. He also won silver in the 3000 m behind Song, and won two bronze medals in the 500 m and the 1500 m. With this victory, Ahn became the first man to win five consecutive world championships.^[69][1] Ahn is the only male short track skater to have won at least three consecutive world championships; Canadian short track legend Marc Gagnon has won four times, but his titles did not come back to back.

Injury in early 2008

On January 16, 2008, the Korea Skating Union (KSU) reported that Ahn had injured his knee after colliding with a fence during national team training at the Korea Training Center in Taeneung. The skate blade got stuck on the ice then the Ahn fell and bumped his knee on the fence.^[70][71] The fence, placed to absorb the shock, froze hard like a rock, causing serious injury rather than absorbing the impact. After being sent to the hospital, the injury was diagnosed as a fractured knee.^[72][73]

Due to the injury, KSU announced that Ahn would not be competing in the ISU Samsung World Cup Series #5 and #6 in Quebec City and Salt Lake City, respectively. It was also reported that he would not be competing in the 2008 World Championships in Gangneung or the 2008 World Team Championships in Harbin, China. As a result of the unexpected injury, it was clear that Ahn would be unable to defend his sixth World title, leaving his countrymen Lee Ho-suk, Song Kyung-taek, and Lee Seung-hoon to make up the ground. After undergoing three surgeries, his rehabilitation period was predicted to be around 2–3 months.^[71]

After eight months off the ice, a South Korean news article reported on September 5, 2008, that Ahn was back training, undergoing approximately two hours of physical reinforcement and skating along with around five hours of rehabilitation accompanied by muscular power training. The article also reported that Ahn was eyeing the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.^[74]

However, his recovery from the injury was much slower than initially expected, and he had to undergo four surgeries in 15 months. ^[75][5]

In 2009, Ahn finished seventh overall at the Korean national team trials, which was not enough for him to qualify for the Olympic team. Not having fully recovered from his injury, he again was unable to qualify for the national team in the following season.

In 2010-2011, Ahn served as a commentator for SBS Sports on the season's World Cup series and World Championships.^[76]

2010s

2010, Conflict with Korea Skating Union

After the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Korean short track was embroiled in scandals such as match-fixing and internal factions. Deals for rights of Olympic and World Championship participation took place among athletes and coaches of the same faction. However, this soon caused divisions between the athletes leading to subsequent exposures.^[77][78] The word of these incidents spread among the athletes’ parents^[79] and was exposed by Ahn Hyun-soo's father.^[80][81] Ahn Hyun-Soo's father has decided to reveal the match-fixing of the national team trial for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver due to the following reasons.^[79][82]

A family of Lee Jung-su noticed that Lee lost his opportunity to participate individual event for the World Championship. Moreover, Lee Jung-Su had to forcefully write down an oath stating that he will not participate the World Championship as demanded by his coaches and head coach.^[83][84] The family of Lee has informed this event to theother parents of the athletes, and they have decided to report the Korea Skating Union to Korean Sports Council Investigation Committee for thorough investigation. They started a petition for the investigation and more than 200 people agreed to join the petition, yet more than 300 people’s engagement was needed in order to file the case to the committee. In this sense, they requested the father of Ahn who is influential to the public to post this scandal on his son’ s Fan Club Page and finally this scandal has been completely revealed to Korean society and the public.^[79][82] This incident had a huge impact. The players involved and the Vancouver Olympic coaches have all been disciplined.^[85][86] The leaders of the Korea Skating Union were all forced to resign.^[87]

Ahn Ki-won, Ahn Hyun-soo's father, pointed out the Korea Skating Union's leadership, including the then-resigned vice president Yoo Tae-wook and Jun Myung-kyu, for exerting undue pressure on coaches and athletes.^[88][89]

Ahn became a whistleblower who informed the South Korean society of the dark side of Korean shorttrack speed skating of factional fight and match-fixing regardless of his will.^[88] And it took a toll on him, officially or informally. The selection of the national team was suddenly postponed, and Ahn Hyun-soo, overlapped with the four-week basic military training period,^[90] disrupted his own training plan.^[91][92] Suspicions have also been raised that he missed an Olympic opportunity by disobeying the factional leader's words.^[25][93] Noise and controversy continued around him regarding factional issues and the way the national team was selected.^[94]

And his team Seongnam City declared a moratorium in July 2010 and decided to dismantle the ice skating team in December 2010. But there was not a team to scouted Ahn Hyun-soo.^[9][95]

Naturalization to Russia

Ahn last competed as a South Korean citizen at the national team trials in April 2011, where he took gold in the 500 m. Prior to the trials, his local team Seongnam City Hall dissolved due to financial reasons, and therefore Ahn had to train by himself. Shortly before this competition, he informed the South Korean media that it would be his farewell performance.^[96] Ahn finished fifth overall at the national team trials.^[97] After the trials, Ahn announced that he will be moving to Russia because he wanted to skate in an environment where he could concentrate in skating, apart from the issues surrounding him.^[54]

He moved to Russia in June 2011 and decided to naturalize on July. On December 28, 2011, he was officially granted a Russian nationality by President Dmitry Medvedev. His Korean nationality was automatically extinguished by the South Korean nationality law, which does not allow dual nationality.^[63] Since then, South Korean media has reported that he received the full Olympic medal pension in July 2011, and decided to naturalized to Russia in August. Based on this, when the Korea skating coach union pointed out "pension receipt" due to "morality" issues in the process of hiring Seongnam City coach in 2023, Viktor Ahn said he decided on everything in July 2011 and donated the entire pension just before Russian naturalization for the first time in 12 years.^[19][18]

In a 2015 documentary aired on South Korea's MBC, Ahn disclosed that there was pressure from Korea Skating Union an official just before his naturalization in Russia. The official warned. "This athlete is a problematic player in South Korea and should never be accepted."^[98][31]

2011, Conflict with the South Korean coaches

South Korean coaches and staff were already in Russia before Ahn decided to go to Russia. But in October 2011, the Russian Skating Union fired everyone, leaving Viktor Ahn alone. According to South Korean media reports at the time, 'internal conflicts between leaders', 'South Korean experts never notified Russian coaches how to prepare skating equipment accordingly in shorttrack speed skating', 'compulsory training ' and 'corporal punishment on athletes' were the reasons for the dismissal.^[99][100]

At that time, however, there were rumors in South Korea that Ahn was reluctant to undergo Korean-style training again.^[101] After this incident, Ahn's wife Woo Nari and coach Hwang Ik-hwan who were coach of his team for Seongnam City just before his naturalization, were invited to Russia for Viktor Ahn's rehabilitation and psychotherapy.^[102][103] Along with this incident during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the 2004 women's short track team assault incident was re-examined. This is because the assault incident of women player team in 2004, and one of the coaches who had a conflict with Viktor Ahn in Russia in 2011 was on the coaching staff of the South Korea national team.^[104]

About this issue, coach Hwang Ik-hwan had an interview as follows. "Hyun-soo won first place in the 500m in the last national trial in Korea before going to Russia. In other words, his physical condition was not bad. However, he was in the worst slump when I met him after six months. Even after they were expelled from the Russian Skating Union, Hyun-soo could not easily get out of that wound for a while."^[105]

In 2018, an official from the Korean skating world also revealed the following. "Viktor Ahn had to went through hard time in the early days of settling in Russia. And he was able to train normally only after the Russian Skating Union fired the coach."^[102]

Heading to Sochi

Ahn participated in the Russian national team trials for the 2011–2012 season and was selected as a relay member for the season. He made his debut as a Russian short track speed skater at World Cup #5 in Moscow.^[106]

In the national trials for the 2012–2013 season, Ahn won the 1000 m and 3000 m events,^[107] successfully pulling off to the national team. At World Cup #1 in Calgary, he won his first individual gold in the international stage since his knee injury four years ago.^[108] He also contributed to Russia's first-ever relay gold at World Cup #5 in Sochi, making an inside pass that reminded of performances in his heyday.^[109]

Ahn came through the Olympic season with flying colors, finishing second in the overall World Cup rankings and winning four golds at the 2014 European Championships. While his knee injury did not allow him to top the 1500 m races that he had dominated when representing Korea, his experience, technique, and exclusive training on the 500 m helped Ahn lead the distance in the World Cup rankings.^[110][111]

2014 Winter Olympics

 

Ahn at the men's 500 m podium at the 2014 Olympics

At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Ahn won the bronze medal in the 1500 m event, which was the first short track speed skating medal that Russia had ever earned.^[112] Ahn then won the first Russian gold medal in short track, winning the 1000 m event by leading the first Russian 1–2 finish in short track with Vladimir Grigorev.^[113] On February 21, Ahn won his seventh overall and fifth Winter Olympic gold medal when he finished first in the 500 m men's final.^[114] With that gold medal, he became the first short track skater to win all four Olympic golds, the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, and 5000 m relay. He also became the short track speed skater with the most Olympic gold medals, with five, which increased to six with a 5000 m relay win later the same day.^[115] With that gold, he became the short tracker with the most Olympic medals, at eight, tied with Apolo Ohno; he also became the short tracker with the most Olympic gold medals, at six.^[116]

After his victory, Koreans came to an uproar questioning the Korea Skating Union of the reason for Ahn's naturalization, which eventually caused Korean President Park Geun-hye to order an investigation on the issue.^[10] Contrary to the public opinion in Korea, Ahn contended that he did not move to Russia because of factionalism.^[117] He also added that his father, who had argued Ahn was the victim of faction fight in Korea, was contradicting him, and going to the Olympics was the sole reason why he made the difficult decision to come to Russia. Ahn expressed his concern that though his relationship with the Korean athletes had no problems, the press was making them awkward.^{[118][119][120]}

After Sochi

In the 2014 World Championships held a month after the Olympics, Ahn won the 1000 m and finished third in the 3000 m, grabbing his sixth world title by 63 points. He became the only man to win six world championships in the sport.

After his prolific season, Ahn continued his skating career despite a part-move into coaching.^{[11][121][122]} He missed the 2015–2016 season due to knee problems and his wife's pregnancy.^[5][123] In an interview after the 2016 World Championships, which he did not take part in but did watch, he told the press that doctors have warned him undergoing extra surgery would jeopardize his career, and thus he is working on adding muscles to relieve the pain.^[124]

Ahn continued to win medals at the World and European championships for Russia. He won bronze in the 500 m and silver in the 5000 m relay at the 2017 European Championships, and won silver in the 500 m race at the 2018 European Championships. Although Ahn had planned to retire after participating the 2018 Winter Olympics in his native South Korea,^[124] he missed out the Olympics in the wake of the alleged sports doping in Russia.^[31] The IOC did not disclose the specific reasons for banning Ahn, only mentioning "lingering suspicions" about doping use regarding the country. Ahn, who had never tested positive for drugs, challenged the decision writing an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach,^[125] but he was not answered.

Retirement

Ahn decided to retire from the sport and return to his home country of South Korea after rejecting an offer to coach the Russian team in September 2018.^[126][64]

After stepping off ice, Ahn starred in the South Korean variety-reality show Real Man 300.^[127][128] He was also noticed working as a player-coach at Korea National Sports University.^[129]

In 2018, Ahn received an offer as a national team leader from the South Korea as well as the Russia national team.^[130] A senior South Korean official revealed in February of that year that there had been informal discussions and the final decision rested with Ahn.^[131] However, the Korea Skating Union was soon mired in controversy due to an assault on a female player and a related #MeToo incident involving a national team coach, which drew significant attention in South Korean society and led to government investigations.^[28][132] Amid the tumultuous events within the Korea Skating Union, Viktor Ahn's discussions to lead the South Korean national team were hindered by his controversies and lack of coaching experience. The offer ultimately dissolved when he rejoined the Russian national team for the 2019-2020 season.^[19][133]

In February 2019, Ahn reversed his decision, announcing that he wanted to compete as an athlete.^[134]

Aged 33, he won silver in the 500 m and 1000 m races respectively at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City and Shanghai before anchoring Russia to gold in the mixed gender 2,000 m relay and men's 5,000 m relay.^[5][11]

In April 2020, Ahn revealed that knee problems were affecting his ability to train and that it was time for him to finally finish his skating career.^[8][135] In his retirement statement, he announced he will continue to work for the sport.^[136][137]

2020s

2022 Winter Olympics

In 2018, Ahn was offered a coaching position for China's national speed skating team by Wang Meng, who had been Ahn's acquaintance since 2002. Although Ahn declined the offer in 2018, he accepted the offer in late 2019.^[12][138]

As the top assistant of Kim Sun-tae, head coach for China's short track team in the 2022 Winter Olympics and previous head coach for Korea's short track team in the 2018 Winter Olympics, Ahn helped Chinese players win two gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal in Beijing.^[139][140] His training style was to skate with the athletes throughout the sessions, so that they could naturally learn how to make steps.^[141]

When Korean skaters were disqualified during the men's 1000 m semifinals, arousing short track speed skating controversies, South Korean netizens directed anger and criticism towards Ahn, who was seen congratulating his team for winning gold in the 2000 m mixed relay.^[142][143]

In addition, some Korean media and the public have remarked that he received an Olympic medal pension ('sports pension') just prior to his naturalization in Russia.^[144] Regarding the Olympic medal pension, he has already been confirmed to have received the most 'sports pension' among South Korean sports athletes through a parliamentary audit by the South Korean National Assembly in October 2012. During his career, he received a pension of more than 370 million won from the state.^[145]

"The receipt of the Olympic medal pension" has been raised since his naturalization, but it has not been much controversy. However, in 2021, his junior Lin Xiaojun (Lim Hyo-jun), an Olympic gold medalist, was known to have decided to naturalize to China, and major South Korean media compared Lin XiaoJun, who was naturalized to China over the repeated naturalization of Korean ace athletes to other countries and pensions for the first time in 10 years.^[146] And anti-Chinese sentiment during the 2022 Beijing Olympics has raised criticism over his receipt of the Olympic medal pension.

Not responding to interview requests during the Games, Ahn shared his thoughts on the issue in March in an interview with the Korean press by saying, "I kept a stiff upper lip because I didn't want to be an irresponsible person. Due to the nature of the sport, judgment problems can occur at any time. All players come to the game with the mindset that they should be careful about decision issues, but the unexpected often happens on ice." Regarding the accusations that were poured on not only him but also his family, Ahn said, "It suddenly occurred to me that if I gave up short track speed skating, this controversy would end," adding, "I thought I had been supported for my passion and games, but it was heartbreaking to see unexpected things lead to criticism." He yet stated that despite the adversities, he won't be leaving the sport.^[141][94]

After the Olympics, Ahn rejected a four-year coaching position and returned to Korea, having not met his family for 19 months due to Covid-19 situations.^[94] Furthermore, Ahn declined long-term leadership offers from third countries outside of South Korea, China, and Russia.^[14][147]

Failure to return to South Korea for coaching

In 2023, Ahn returned to South Korea and applied to be a coach for Seongnam City's short track speed skating team.^[13][14] However, he is under huge criticism from the South Korean short track speed skating coaches as he has helped South Korean rival China to gain medals during the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The Korea skating coach union urged "Seongnam City to appoint a coach that meets the public eye level" and criticized Ahn that he "lied during the naturalization process and betrayed his country", avoiding the fact that Ahn was mistreated by the Korea Skating Union after his injuries.^[15] In late January, Seongnam City's short track speed skating team announced that no one is qualified to be a coach, meaning that Ahn is unlikely to be coach for his homeland.^[148] After Seongnam City has since announced that there are no successful candidates, and the city ultimately decided not to fill the vacant coaching position.^[149]

since then, the Korea skating coach union has been known as a close aide to a specific candidate, and suspicions have been raised that the disciplinary history of a specific candidate has not been raised.^[19][18] As a result, some South Korean media outlets suggested that there was a factional power struggle and political involvement in the ice skating world.^[150][151]

Following South Korea's rejection of Viktor Ahn, through TASS, Russian Skating Union president expressed that they would like to appoint Ahn.^[148][152] In 2022, Russia invited Viktor Ahn to become an advisor to the Skating Union, but he refused due to objections by Ahn's wife.^[153][154] While Russia sports media outlet Sport Express urged Ahn to return to Russia as a leader.^[155][156]

On February 7, Viktor Ahn expressed his position on the controversy over Russian naturalization on his social network service (SNS) after "received a lump-sum payment of the athletes' pension," which the Korea skating coach union pointed out as a moral issue. At first, he thought dual citizenship was possible. However, when he found out that he had to give up his Korean nationality, he decided that it was right to return the Olympic medal pension he received. And before naturalization in Russia, he made a full donation to "children in need of heart surgery and junior athletes in need of rehabilitation and treatment." Since then, some of the pensions have been delivered to the family of Noh Jin-kyu, his junior athlete at the Korean National Sport University, according to a South Korean ice skating official. Ahn then said that he would humbly accept the criticism of choosing naturalization for any reason, but he said he would raise speak out when there is misunderstanding.^[18][19]

On February 9, The Hankyoreh pointed out Seongnam City's negligence in administration in that Ahn's coaching support was exposed in advance in connection with the recruitment of the ice skating team at Seongnam City. While the Korea Skating Coaches Union pointed out that it was not the opinion of the Korean ice skating leaders as a whole, and that it was a serious problem for the media to report the opinions of certain unofficial organizations as the opinions of the entire leaders.^[157]

South Korean leadership activities

On April 13, 2023, South Korean media reported as follows. Viktor Ahn will participate as a coach for multiple skaters in the 2023-24 season for the South Korean national team trials. He personally coached young skaters at the Korea National Sport University after the 2022 Beijing Olympics.^[20] Among them, seven players from high school and Korea National Sport University wrote him as a leader on the application form for participation in the national team trials.^[158][159] This is Ahn's first official South Korean leadership acitivity.^[20]

According to JTBC, Ahn completed the Korea Skating Union's "leader's lesson" in Korea after the 2022 Beijing Olympics.^[159] According to the Korea Sports Association and the Korea Skating Union Registration Regulations, which have been changed since April 12, 2021 due to years of "violation of human rights of ice sports" and "ethical controversy of ice coaches" in Korea, even a leader who has obtained a "coach national license" must complete a leader course before he can serve as a leader of the Korea Skating Union.^[160]

Conflict with mentor

This issue that has been consistently mentioned due to Ahn's choice of naturalization in Russia is the issues of conflict with his mentor, Jun Myung-kyu, vice president of the Korea Skating Union. According to Korean medias, Professor Jun was the planner of all Ahn's career paths. Jun was Ahn's professor. And he was Ahn's personal coach in 2007. However, Ahn disobeyed the professor Jun's words.^[118][32]

In 2014, his father and Lee Joon-ho, who was the former coach of the national team, said the following. : "Ahn, was set to graduate from Korea National Sport University in 2007. Ahn chose the Seongnam City Hall Short track team that Professor Jun did not want, and the relationship between Professor Jun and Ahn was estranged".^[118][73] During the Olympics, Chang Myung-hee, former president of the Korea Skating Union, also said that Vice-President Jun Myung-kyu had abused his authority, and Ahn was disadvantaged.^[26] In fact, the conflict with factional leaders was also mentioned by the South Korean media in 2010.^[25][93] In 2018, Another a Korean skating official commented, "A mere 16 days after Viktor Ahn joined the Seongnam City Hall skating team, he sustained a severe injury during training. Subsequently, Seongnam City Hall suspended the team's operations. Ahn's strained relationship with Jun Myung-kyu, the president of Korea Ice Skating, made it challenging for him to find a suitable place to train and compete within the country."^[102]

In March 2014, Professor Jun stepped down as vice-president of the Korean Skaters Union.^[161] However, in 2014, Ahn and the Korea Skating Union denied any conflicts or factional issues.^[118][119]

The assault of the women's short track team coach during the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the athletes' discord over women's speed skating factions raised the issue of the responsibility of Samsung, which had sponsored the Korea Skating Union and the Korea Skating Union. The Korea Skating Union was investigated by the government, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.^[28][162] Viktor Ahn and Professor Jun have returned to the agenda.^[163][164] However, in February 2018, Viktor Ahn sent a text message to South Korean Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee Member of parliament Ahn Min-seok. Ahn Min-seok said that Ahn hyun-soo has a good relationship with Professor Jun Myung-kyu, and released it to the South Korean media.^[162][165]

In March 2022, Viktor Ahn said Yonhap News Agency in an interview that he had never been disadvantaged by the Korea Skating Union.^[94]

Style

• "Ahn is a master of short track speed skating, particularly in controlling the track during competition." - Wu Dajing^[31]
• "In terms of his racing strategy, when he's following the other skaters, he's not really just following. He's always waiting for that perfect chance to pass." - Chae Ji-hoon^[166]
• "Viktor Ahn, as he's now called, is the most beautiful short track skating athlete in the world in terms of his technique and the way he skates." "If there is any athlete that is designed for short track, body-type wise, it is him," "If you watch him stand and jog, his pelvic is tilted forward naturally, which is perfect for a skater. He has incredible technique, tons of experience." - Apolo Anton Ohno^[167][168]

Awards and honors

Representing Korea

Ahn was awarded the Outstanding Player Award at the Sports Chosun Coca-Cola Sports Awards in January 2006.^[169] After his victory in Torino, he was selected as Player of the Month by the American Sports Academy.^[170] He was also named as honorary ambassador for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics bidding committee with Jin Sun-yu.^[171]

In 2008, Ahn was selected as the Most Valuable Player with Lee Kyou-hyuk and Yuna Kim by the Korea Skating Union.^[172] In the same year, he also received the Men's Team Award at the Asian Sports Awards.^[173] with Lee Ho-seok, Song Suk-woo, Oh Se-jong, and Seo Ho-jin.

Ahn was chosen as the ambassador for the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation in 2009.^[174]

Representing Russia    

In March 2013, Ahn was named as Merited Master of Sport by the Russian Federation.^[175][176]

After his feat in Sochi, Ahn was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" from Russian President Vladimir Putin^[177] and the Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"".^[178][176] He was also selected Most Valuable Player in the Sochi Winter Olympics by NBC,^[179][180] and 2014 Athlete of the Year by the Russian edition of 'GQ' magazine.^[181][5] In light of his status as a South Korean-born Russian, Ahn was further named as honorary ambassador for the 2014-2015 Korea-Russia Year of Mutual Visit in 2014.^[182]

In 2016, Ahn received the Proud Alumnus Award at his alma mater.^[183][184] He was also inducted into the Korea National Sports University Ice Rink Hall of Fame as the 2006 Winter Olympics champion and the Sochi Walk of Fame as the 2014 Winter Olympics champion.^[185][186]

Personal life

Ahn is married to Woo Nari (Korean: 우나리), a Korean born in 1983.^[187][188] Nari was a member of Ahn's fan club. Ahn said that her presence and care helped him adapt to Russia.^[189][190] Their daughter was born in December 2015.^[191][192] But his wife, Woo Nari, couldn't endure the life in Russia and missed South Korea, so eventually left Russia. The Russian media reported that his wife wanted to raise their daughter in South Korea, and Viktor Ahn's choice to go to South Korea was influenced by his wife.^[148][152]

Ahn's younger brother is speed skater Ahn Hyun-Jun. He made the Korean national speed skating team for the 2022–23 season.^[193][194] The younger Ahn switched from short track to speed skating in 2021.^[195]

Russian citizenship

 

Vladimir Putin and Ahn after the 2014 Olympics

Ahn trained in Russia and received Russian citizenship to compete for Russia in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Ahn's father stated that the decision was due to lack of support from the South Korean skating association.^[196] Prior to moving to Russia, Ahn did not know the Russian language and had no familial ties to Russia. He had considered competing for the United States, but found that the process for gaining Russian citizenship was much easier. He chose "Viktor" as his Russian name as it derived from Victory,^[197] and to pay tribute to Viktor Tsoi, a Soviet rock star of ethnic Korean descent.^[198][63]

In South Korea, fury erupted over the loss of Ahn to Team Russia, after his participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Several newspapers reported the scorn of the South Korean public and newspaper editors on the actions of the skating federation. Right after the Olympics, the Minister of Sports and President Park Geun-hye of South Korea both promised action in rooting out corruption and feuding at the organization that may have led to Ahn's "defection", in a bid to clean it up in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. In September 2018, Ahn announced his retirement from short track and moved back to South Korea.^[126] The South Korean public was generally supportive of Ahn in early 2014,^[198][199] but he also received online bashing amidst controversies at Sochi and in later years.^[57][200] In 2023, Ahn sought a coaching position in South Korea, despite having renounced his South Korean citizenship when becoming Russian. He was denied that position due to significant public opposition.^[17]

Political issues

In 2011, Ahn's decision to naturalize became a contentious political issue, with some attributing the responsibility to Seongnam Mayor at the time, Lee Jae-myung. By 2014, Lee defended himself by emphasizing that the state-supervised Korea Skating Union should be held accountable rather than the leaders of Local government. A significant development occurred in February 2022 when Won Hee-ryong, associated with Yoon Suk Yeol's People's Power presidential campaign, asserted that Viktor Ahn's choice to become a Russian national was influenced by Lee Jae-myung. Won Hee-ryong further claimed that the halting of operations for the Seongnam City Hall ice skating team was a disguise for bankruptcy and alleged that 30 billion won from Seongnam City's funds were diverted to acquire Seongnam FC in a bid to boost the mayor's re-election prospects. The Democratic Party of Korea refuted the allegations, deeming them false. Concurrently, Korean ice skating officials emphasized the difficulty in isolating a single cause, especially when injuries and team disbandments coincided with ongoing factional controversies within the ice skating community.^[201][202] As of 2022, Lee Jae-myung faces legal scrutiny for allegedly accepting 17 billion won in unauthorized bribes from companies, masked as donations to Seongnam FC.^[203][204]

Notes

He can restore his South Korean nationality under the South Korean nationality law.^[a][205] In 2003, at the age of 17, he was exempted from military service by winning three gold medals at the Asian Games and finished his four-weeks of basic military training in 2010. For sports personnels who are exempted from active duty are recognized to have completed 34 months of military service if they have spent time as athletes in their field.^[206] In September 2018, A South Korean Ministry of National Defense official said in an interview with South Korean media. "Ahn hyun-soo has already completed his military service".^[206]

But if Ahn gets his South Korean citizenship back, he has to renounce his Russian citizenship.^[205]

1. South Korean nationality law Article 9 (Acquisition of Nationality through Reinstatement of Nationality)
   (1) A foreigner who was a national of the Republic of Korea may acquire the nationality of the Republic of Korea through obtaining permission of reinstatement of nationality by the Minister of Justice. (2)The Minister of Justice shall not allow the reinstatement of nationality to a person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs, after screening such person who has applied for the reinstatement of nationality.
   1.A person who has inflicted harm on the State or society; 2.A person whose conduct is disorderly; 3.A person who lost or renounced his/her nationality of the Republic of Korea in order to evade military service; 4.A person for whom the Minister of Justice regards the reinstatement of his/her nationality as inappropriate, for the purposes of national security, sustainment of order or public welfare.

In the media

In the 2010–2011 season, Ahn served as a short track commentator for SBS Sports. He covered the World Cup series (#3~#6) and the World Championships.^[207][208]

From 2014 to 2016, he guest-starred in three episodes of Russia's late-night talk show Evening Urgant (episodes S3.E90, S4.E104, S5.E157).^[209]

From 2017 to 2018, Ahn guest-starred in the South Korean variety-reality show The Return of Superman (episodes 202~204, 237, 241) with his daughter.^[210]

In 2018, he starred in the South Korean variety-reality show Real Man 300 (episodes 1~15, 18).^[127][211]

Other television appearances of Ahn are as follows:

• Han Su-jin's Sunday Click (South Korean talk show) - with Jin Sun-yu (episode 49) ^[212]
• Human Docu Love (South Korean documentary) - with wife Woo Nari (episodes 44, 45) ^[213][214]
• Live Talk Show Taxi (South Korean talk show) - with wife Woo Nari (episode 488)^[215]

Detailed results

Olympics results

Competition Location	Date	Rank	Event	Video
2002 Winter Olympics   Salt Lake Ice Center	13–23 February 2002	13	1500 m
		4	1000 m	^[216]
		DNS	500 m
		DNS	5000 m relay
2006 Winter Olympics   Torino Palavela	February 13, 2006	1	1500 m	^[217]^[218]
	February 19, 2006	1	1000 m^[a]	^[219]
	February 25, 2006	3	500 m
	February 25, 2006	1	5000 m relay^[b]	^[220]
2014 Winter Olympics   Iceberg Skating Palace	February 10, 2014	3	1500 m
	February 15, 2014	1	1000 m	^[221]
	February 21, 2014	1	500 m	^[222]^[223]
	February 21, 2014	1	5000 m relay^[c]	^[224]^[225]

1. 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's 1000 m Former, (OR).
2. 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's 5000 m relay Former, (OR).
3. 2014 Winter Olympics – Men's 5000 m relay Former, (OR).

World Championships Podiums results

Six-time Overall world champion. 20 world titles. 18 gold medals.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze	podiums
Overall	6 x	1 x		7
500m		1 x	2 x	3
1000m	4 x	3 x		7
1500m	4 x		1 x	5
3 000 m^[a]	(2)	(3)	(2)	(7)
distances	14 x	5 x	3 x	22 (29)
relay	4 x	2 x		6
Total	18 (20)	7 (10)	3 (5)	28 (35)

1. super-final involving eight competitors with highest points after completion of other distances. 2002 (2nd), 2003 (1st), 2004 (1st), 2005 (2nd), 2006 (DSQ), 2007 (2nd), 2013 (7th), 2014 (3rd), 2017 (3rd). The 3000m Super Final is not awarded a medal, but the ranking and record are recognized.

Overall points and medals results

Date	Competition Location	Rank	Event
5-7 April 2002	2002   Montreal^[226]	2 (42 points)^[a]	Overall
		2	1000m
		2	3000m
		1	Relay
19-21 March 2003	2003   Warsaw^[227]	1 (89 points)^[b]	Overall
		2	1000m
		1	1500m
		1	3000m
		1	Relay
19–21 April 2004	2004   Gothenburg^[228]	1 (102 points)^[c]	Overall
		1	1000m
		1	1500m
		1	3000m
		1	Relay
5–6 March 2005	2005   Beijing^[229]	1 (89 points)^[d]	Overall
		3	500m
		2	1000m
		1	1500m
		2	3000m
		2	Relay
29–31 March 2006	2006   Minneapolis^[230]	1 (68 points)^[e]	Overall
		1	1000m
		1	1500m
9–11 March 2007	2007   Milan^[69]	1 (81 points)^[f]	Overall
		3	500m
		1	1000m
		3	1500m
		2	3000m
		1	Relay
14–16 March 2013	2013   Debrecen^[231]	6 (23 points)^[g]	Overall
		2	500m
		7	3000m
		2	Relay
14–16 March 2014	2014   Montreal^[232]	1 (63 points)^[h]	Overall
		4	500m
		1	1000m
		4	1500m
		3	3000m
10–12 March 2017	2017   Debrecen^[233]	7 (23 points)^[i]	Overall
		7	500m
		4	1500m
		3	3000m

1. 42 points : 1000 m (21) + 3000 m (21)
2. 89 points : 1000 m (21) + 1500 m (34) + 3000 m (34)
3. 102 points : 1000 m (34) + 1500 m (34) + 3000 m (34)
4. 89 points : 500 m (13) + 1000 m (21) + 1500 m (34) + 3000 m (21)
5. 68 points : 1000 m (34) + 1500 m (34)
6. 81 points : 500 m (13) + 1000 m (34) + 1500 m (13) + 3000 m (21)
7. 23 points : 500 m (21) + 3000 m (2)
8. 63 points : 500 m (8) + 1000 m (34) + 1500 m (8) + 3000 m (13)
9. 23 points : 500 m (2) + 1500 m (8) + 3000 m (13)

World Team Championships

Team   South Korea
date	Competition Location	rank
29-30 March 2002	Team 2002   Milwaukee	3
15-16 March 2003	Team 2003   Sofia	2
13-14 March 2004	Team 2004   Saint Petersburg	1
5-6 March 2005	Team 2005   Chuncheon	2
25-26 March 2006	Team 2006   Montreal	1
17-18 March 2007	Team 2007   Budapest	2

World Cup Podiums results

2 times Overall World Cup winner, 6 time individual distances World Cup winner, 67 World Cup victories

World Cup Ranking
Event	1st	2nd	3rd	podiums
Overall	2	3	1	6
500m	2	1	1	4
1000m	2	4	1	7
1500m	2	4	1	7
Total	8	12	4	24
World Cup medals
Event	gold	Silver	bronze	podiums
Overall	7	3	5	15
500m	6	4	2	12
1000m	13	10	5	28
1500m	16	7	5	28
3000m	6	6	2	14
distances	48	30	19	97
Relay	19	7	6	32
medals	67 x	37 x	25 x	129
Total	75 x	49 x	29 x	153

World Cup Ranking Podiums

season	Overall	500m	1000m	1500m
2002-03	2nd	3rd	3rd	2nd
2003-04	1st	2nd	1st	1st
2004-05	3rd	-	2nd	2nd
2005-06	1st	1st	2nd	1st
2007-08	2nd	-	1st	2nd
2012-13	-	-	2nd	2nd
2013-14	2nd	1st	2nd	3rd
Podiums	6	4	7	7
Total	24

World Cup medals results

67 Gold medals  

gold medals
No.	Competition Location	Event
1	2002-03   Chuncheon	Overall
2	2002-03   Chuncheon	500 m
3	2002-03   Chuncheon	1000 m
4	2002-03   Chuncheon	1500 m
5	2002-03   Chuncheon	3000 m S.F.
6	2002-03   Bormio	3000 m S.F.
7	2003-04   Michigan	Overall
8	2003-04   Michigan	1000 m
9	2003-04   Michigan	1500 m
10	2003-04   Michigan	5000 m relay
11	2003-04   Jeonju	1500 m
12	2003-04   Beijing	Overall
13	2003-04   Beijing	1500 m
14	2003-04   Beijing	3000 m S.F.
15	2003-04   Mladá Boleslav	Overall
16	2003-04   Mladá Boleslav	1500 m
17	2004-05   Harbin	1000 m
18	2004-05   Harbin	3000 m S.F.
19	2004-05   Harbin	5000 m relay
20	2004-05   Beijing	Overall
21	2004-05   Beijing	500 m
22	2004-05   Beijing	1000 m
23	2004-05   Beijing	1500 m
24	2004-05   Beijing	3000 m S.F.
25	2004-05   Beijing	5000 m relay
26	2004-05   Budapest	1500 m
27	2004-05   Spišská Nová Ves	3000 m S.F.
28	2005–06   Hangzhou	Overall
29	2005–06   Hangzhou	1000 m
30	2005–06   Hangzhou	5000 m relay
31	2005–06   Seoul	1500 m
32	2005–06   Seoul	5000 m relay
33	2005–06   Bormio	500 m
34	2005–06   Bormio	5000 m relay
35	2005–06   Hague	Overall
36	2005–06   Hague	500 m
37	2005–06   Hague	1500 m
38	2006-07   Changchun	1000 m
39	2006-07   Changchun	1500 m
40	2006-07   Changchun	5000 m relay
41	2006-07   Jeonju	1500 m
42	2006-07   Saguenay	1000 m
43	2006-07   Saguenay	5000 m relay
44	2006-07   Montreal	1500 m (1)
45	2006-07   Montreal	5000 m relay
46	2007-08   Harbin	1000 m
47	2007-08   Harbin	1500 m
48	2007-08   Harbin	5000 m relay^[234]^[235]
49	2007-08   Kobe	1000 m
50	2007-08   Kobe	1500 m
51	2007-08   Kobe	5000 m relay^[236]^[237]
52	2007-08   Heerenveen	1000 m
53	2007-08   Heerenveen	5000 m relay
54	2007-08   Turin	1500 m
55	2007-08   Turin	5000 m relay
56	2012-13   Calgary	1000 m
57	2012-13   Nagoya	1000 m
58	2012-13   Shanghai	1500 m
59	2012-13   Sochi	5000 m relay
60	2013-14   Seoul	500 m
61	2013-14   Kolomna	500 m
62	2014-15   Salt Lake City	1000 m
63	2014-15   Salt Lake City	5000 m relay
64	2016-17   Dresden	5000 m relay
65	2019-20   Salt Lake City	2000 m mixed relay
66	2019-20   Salt Lake City	5000 m relay
67	2019-20   Shanghai	5000 m relay

37 Silver medals  

Silver medals
No.	Competition Location	Event
1	2002-03   Beijing	1500 m
2	2002-03   Beijing	3000 m S.F.
3	2002-03   Saint Petersburg	1500 m
4	2002-03   Saint Petersburg	3000 m S.F.
5	2002-03   Bormio	Overall
6	2002-03   Bormio	1000 m
7	2003-04   Calgary	1500 m
8	2003-04   Michigan	500 m
9	2003-04   Jeonju	3000 m S.F.
10	2003-04   Beijing	1000 m
11	2003-04   Mladá Boleslav	1000 m
12	2003-04   Mladá Boleslav	3000 m S.F.
13	2004-05   Harbin	Overall
14	2004-05   Harbin	1500 m
15	2004-05   Spišská Nová Ves	1000 m
16	2004-05   Spišská Nová Ves	5000 m relay
17	2005–06   Hangzhou	500 m
18	2005–06   Hangzhou	1500 m
19	2005–06   Hangzhou	3000 m S.F.
20	2005–06   Seoul	Overall
21	2005–06   Seoul	3000 m S.F.
22	2005–06   Hague	5000 m relay
23	2006-07   Montreal	1500 m (2)
24	2007-08   Turin	1000 m
25	2012-13   Calgary	5000 m relay
26	2012-13   Shanghai	1000 m
27	2013-14   Seoul	1000 m
28	2013-14   Turin	500 m
29	2013-14   Turin	1000 m
30	2013-14   Turin	5000 m relay
31	2013-14   Kolomna	1500 m
32	2013-14   Kolomna	5000 m relay
33	2014-15   Erzurum	1000 m
34	2016-17   Minsk	5000 m relay
35	2019-20   Salt Lake City	500 m
36	2019-20   Salt Lake City	1000 m
37	2019-20   Shanghai	2000 m mixed relay

25 Bronze medals  

Bronze medals
No.	Competition Location	Event
1	2002-03   Saint Petersburg	Overall
2	2002-03   Saint Petersburg	5000 m relay
3	2003-04   Calgary	Overall
4	2003-04   Calgary	1000 m
5	2003-04   Calgary	3000 m S.F.
6	2003-04   Calgary	5000 m relay
7	2003-04   Jeonju	Overall
8	2003-04   Jeonju	5000 m relay
9	2003-04   Beijing	5000 m relay
10	2004-05   Spišská Nová Ves	Overall
11	2005–06   Seoul	1000 m
12	2005–06   Bormio	Overall
13	2005–06   Bormio	3000 m S.F
14	2005–06   Hague	1000 m
15	2006-07   Jeonju	1000 m
16	2006-07   Jeonju	5000 m relay
17	2007-08   Heerenveen	1500 m
18	2012-13   Dresden	1000 m
19	2012-13   Dresden	1500 m
20	2012-13   Dresden	5000 m relay
21	2013-14   Shanghai	1500 m
22	2013-14   Seoul	1500 m
23	2014-15   Erzurum	1500 m
24	2016-17   Calgary	500 m
25	2016-17   Shanghai	500 m

National competitions

South Korea National Competitions (1996~2011)^[238]
Date	Competition	Rank	Event
Myongji Primary School
16 Feb 1996	1996 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1500 m
09~10 Apr 1996	1996 National Student Short Track Championships^[239]		500 m
09~10 Apr 1996	1996 National Student Short Track Championships		1500 m
09~10 Apr 1996	1996 National Student Short Track Championships		Overall
03 Feb 1997	1997 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1000 m
26 Feb 1998	1998 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1500 m
28 Feb 1998	1998 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		2000 m
Myongji Middle School
12 Feb 1999	1999 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1000 m
12 Feb 1999	1999 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		3000 m
16 Feb 2000	2000 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		3000 m
22 Feb 2001	2001 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		500 m
23 Feb 2001	2001 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1000 m
Shinmok High School
18 Apr 2002	2002-03 National Short Track Championships^[240]		1500 m
1 Apr 2003	2003-04 National Short Track Championshipsn^[241]		1500 m
1 Apr 2003	2003-04 National Short Track Championships		500 m
2 Apr 2003	2003-04 National Short Track Championships		3000 m
2 Apr 2003	2003-04 National Short Track Championships^[242]		Overall
Korea National Sports University
9 Sep 2005	2005-06 National Short Track Championships^[35]		1500 m
9 Sep 2005	2005-06 National Short Track Championships		500 m
9 Sep 2005	2005-06 National Short Track Championships		Overall
15 Apr 2006	2006-07 National Short Track Championships^[243]		1500 m
16 Apr 2006	2006-07 National Short Track Championships		3000 m
16 Apr 2006	2006-07 National Short Track Championships^[244]		Overall
27 Sep 2006	2006-07 National Short Track Championships		1000 m
27 Sep 2006	2006-07 National Short Track Championships^[245]		Overall
5 Jan 2007	2007 Korea Industrial Skating Federation President's Cup^[246]		500 m
6 Jan 2007	2007 Korea Industrial Skating Federation President's Cup		1000 m
22 Feb 2007	2007 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1500 m
22 Feb 2007	2007 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1000 m
24 Feb 2007	2007 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		3000 m relay
Seongnam Local Government Team
18 Oct 2009	2009 Korea Industrial Skating Federation President's Cup^[247]		3000 m relay
22 Feb 2010	2010 Korean National Winter Sports Festival^[239]^[248]		1500 m
02 Feb 2010	2010 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		3000 m
02 Feb 2010	2010 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		5000 m relay
no Team^[9]
14 Feb 2011	2011 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		1500 m
14 Feb 2011	2011 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		3000 m
16 Feb 2011	2011 Korean National Winter Sports Festival		5000 m relay
25 Mar 2011	2011-12 National Short Track Championships		1500 m
26 Mar 2011	2011-12 National Short Track Championships		500 m
26 Mar 2011	2011-12 National Short Track Championships^[249]		1000 m
27 Mar 2011	2011-12 National Short Track Championships		3000 m
6 Apr 2011	2011-12 National Short Track Championships^[96]		500 m
Russia National Competitions (2012~2019)
CSKA Moscow
21~23 Mar 2012	2012 National Championships Kolomna^[107]		1000 m
21~23 Mar 2012	2012 National Championships Kolomna^[250]		1500 m
21~23 Mar 2012	2012 National Championships Kolomna^[107]		3000 m
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk^[251]		500 m (1)
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk		500 m (2)
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk^[252]		1000 m (2)
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk^[253]		1500 m (1)
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk^[254]		1500 m (2)
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk^[255]		5000 m relay
27~30 Sep 2012	2012 National Championships Novogorsk^[256]		Overall
19~21 Dec 2012	2012 National Championships Sochi		1000 m
19~21 Dec 2012	2012 National Championships Sochi		1500 m
19~21 Dec 2012	2012 National Championships Sochi		3000 m
19~21 Dec 2012	2012 National Championships Sochi^[257]		Overall
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna^[258]		500 m (1)
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna^[259]		500 m (2)
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna^[260]		1000 m (1)
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna^[261]		1000 m (2)
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna^[262]		1500 m (1)
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna		1500 m 2)
16~18 Oct 2014	2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna^[263]^[264]		Overall
27~29 Dec 2014	2014 National Championships Kolomna^[265]		1000 m
27~29 Dec 2014	2014 National Championships Kolomna^[266]		1500 m
27~29 Dec 2014	2014 National Championships Kolomna^[267]		3000 m
27~29 Dec 2014	2014 National Championships Kolomna	January 01, 1970 Latest articles January 06, 2023 Kim Leine January 06, 2023 Kim Possible December 29, 2022 Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama January 06, 2023 Kim Prause January 06, 2023 Kim Su-ji (diver) January 07, 2023 Kim Su-ro January 06, 2023 Kim Sun-woong January 15, 2023 Kim Sun-ja (athlete) January 09, 2023 Kim Sung-kyun January 04, 2023 Kim Sung-joo (entertainer) Most Read December 31, 2022 District 11, Ho Chi Minh City January 10, 2023 District 12, Malta January 09, 2023 District 2, Grand Bassa County January 04, 2023 District 2, Malta January 06, 2023 District 2 (Zürich) viktor, this, korean, name, family, name, russian, Виктор, Ан, born, hyun, korean, 안현수, november, 1985, south, korean, born, russian, short, track, speed, skating, coach, retired, short, track, speed, skater, with, total, eight, olympic, medals, gold, bronze, . In this Korean name the family name is Ahn Viktor An Russian Viktor An born Ahn Hyun soo Korean 안현수 on November 23 1985 5 is a South Korean born Russian short track speed skating coach and retired short track speed skater With a total of eight Olympic medals six gold and two bronze he is the only short track speed skater in Olympic history to win gold in every distance and the first to win a medal in every distance at a single Games 6 He has the most Olympic gold medals in the sport three of which he won in the 2006 Winter Olympics and the other three in the 2014 Winter Olympics Considered to be the greatest short track speed skater of all time he is a six time overall World champion 2003 2007 2014 two time overall World Cup winner 2003 04 2005 06 and the 2014 European champion He holds the most overall titles at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships and is the only male short track skater to win five consecutive world titles 7 Viktor AnAhn in 2016Personal informationBirth nameAhn Hyun soo안현수Born 1985 11 23 November 23 1985 age 38 Seoul South KoreaHeight1 70 m 5 ft 7 in 1 Weight65 kg 143 lb 1 SpouseWoo Nari m 2014 wbr SportCountry South Korea until 2011 Russia since 2011 SportShort track speed skatingRetiredApril 27 2020Achievements and titlesWorld finalsWorld Championship2014 Overall2007 Overall2006 Overall2005 Overall2004 Overall2003 OverallWorld Cup2006 Overall2004 OverallPersonal best s 500 m 39 961 2019 2 1000 m 1 23 487 2013 2 1500 m 2 10 639 2003 Former WR 2 3 3000 m 4 32 646 2003 Former WR 2 4 Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 6 0 2 World Championships 20 10 5 World Team Championships 2 3 1 European Championships 8 6 2 World Junior Championships 4 0 1 Winter Universiade 3 0 1 Asian Games 5 1 0 Total 48 20 12 Representing Russia Olympic Games 2014 Sochi 500 m 2014 Sochi 1000 m 2014 Sochi 5000 m relay 2014 Sochi 1500 m World Championships 2014 Montreal Overall 2014 Montreal 1000 m 2013 Debrecen 500 m 2013 Debrecen 5000 m relay 2014 Montreal 3000 m 2017 Rotterdam 3000 m European Championships 2013 Malmo 5000 m relay 2014 Debrecen Overall 2014 Debrecen 500 m 2014 Debrecen 1000 m 2014 Debrecen 3000 m 2014 Debrecen 5000 m relay 2015 Dordrecht 500 m 2015 Dordrecht 5000 m relay 2013 Malmo 1000m 2015 Dordrecht Overall 2015 Dordrecht 3000 m 2017 Turin 5000 m relay 2018 Dresden 500 m 2018 Dresden 5000 m relay 2013 Malmo 500 m 2017 Turin 500 m Representing South Korea Olympic Games 2006 Turin 1000 m 2006 Turin 1500 m 2006 Turin 5000 m relay 2006 Turin 500 m World Championships 2002 Montreal 5000 m relay 2003 Warsaw Overall 2003 Warsaw 1500 m 2003 Warsaw 3000 m 2003 Warsaw 5000 m relay 2004 Gothenburg Overall 2004 Gothenburg 1000 m 2004 Gothenburg 1500 m 2004 Gothenburg 3000 m 2004 Gothenburg 5000 m relay 2005 Beijing Overall 2005 Beijing 1500 m 2006 Minneapolis Overall 2006 Minneapolis 1000 m 2006 Minneapolis 1500 m 2007 Milan Overall 2007 Milan 1000 m 2007 Milan 5000 m relay 2002 Montreal Overall 2002 Montreal 1000 m 2002 Montreal 3000 m 2003 Warsaw 1000 m 2005 Beijing 1000 m 2005 Beijing 3000 m 2005 Beijing 5000 m relay 2007 Milan 3000 m 2005 Beijing 500 m 2007 Milan 500 m 2007 Milan 1500 m World Team Championships 2004 St Petersburg Team 2006 Montreal Team 2003 Sofia Team 2005 Chuncheon Team 2007 Budapest Team 2002 Milwaukee Team World Junior Championships 2002 Chuncheon Overall 2002 Chuncheon 1000 m 2002 Chuncheon 1500 m 2002 Chuncheon 2000 m relay 2002 Chuncheon 1500 m S F Winter Universiade 2005 Innsbruck 1500 m 2005 Innsbruck 3000 m 2005 Innsbruck 5000 m relay 2005 Innsbruck 1000 m Asian Winter Games 2003 Aomori 1000 m 2003 Aomori 1500 m 2003 Aomori 5000 m relay 2007 Changchun 1000 m 2007 Changchun 5000 m relay 2007 Changchun 1500 m Victor AnHangul빅토르 안Hanja빅토르 安Revised RomanizationBiktoreu AnMcCune ReischauerPikt orŭ AnAhn Hyun sooHangul안현수Hanja安賢洙Revised RomanizationAn HyeonsuMcCune ReischauerAn Hyŏnsu In 2008 Ahn suffered a knee injury and could not regain his health by the time the national qualifiers for Vancouver 2010 came around His recovery being slow and his South Korean local team dissolved in 2010 8 9 Ahn aiming for his second Olympics became a Russian citizen the next year and began racing for the Russian team After winning gold in Sochi Ahn explained his reasons for joining the Russian team saying I wanted to train in the best possible environment and I proved my decision was not wrong As expected a gold winning athlete leaving the national team caused public uproar in South Korea However it was aimed not at Ahn but at the country s skating union Most South Korean fans in a poll said they understood his decision 10 11 Ahn continued his skating career in his adopted nation until 2019 and declared his retirement in April 2020 8 12 In 2023 Ahn returned to Korea as a short track leader Ahn returned to South Korea and applied to be a coach for Seongnam City s short track speed skating team despite having renounced his South Korean citizenship when becoming Russian 13 14 However since his change in 2014 he had been increasingly criticized for his work in Russia amid the Russo Ukrainian War and his coaching position in the Chinese team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing Some Korean coaches have formed The Korea Skating Coaches Union and urged Seongnam City to appoint a coach that meets the public eye level and criticized Ahn that he lied during the naturalization process and betrayed his country 15 16 and He was criticized by the public for betraying his country by transferring Korean sports skills to Russia and China Ahn was eventually denied the coaching position due to significant public opposition 17 After being denied his position as Seongnam City Hall coach due to strong public opposition Ahn explained the controversy he knew about his loss of nationality in advance and receives a full Olympic medal pension prior to Russian naturalization he said I donated every pension I had received prior to naturalization According to his explanation and a Korean ice skating official mentioned in Chosun Ilbo shortly thereafter the entire lump sum pension he received was spent on rehabilitating children who needed heart surgery and Korean junior players 18 19 And he make his first start as a Korean Sports leader being named as a coach in the 2023 2024 national team trials at the request of his juniors The Korea Skating Union officially announced this through Yonhap News Agency and the Korean media reported it collectively 20 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 2 1 2000s 2 1 1 Early career and the 2002 Winter Olympics 2 1 1 1 National team recommendation system 2 1 2 2002 2005 KNSU and Non KNSU 2 1 3 2005 Conflict with Korea Skating Union 2 1 4 2006 Winter Olympics 2 1 5 After Torino 2 1 6 Injury in early 2008 2 2 2010s 2 2 1 2010 Conflict with Korea Skating Union 2 2 2 Naturalization to Russia 2 2 3 2011 Conflict with the South Korean coaches 2 2 4 Heading to Sochi 2 2 5 2014 Winter Olympics 2 2 6 After Sochi 2 2 7 Retirement 2 3 2020s 2 3 1 2022 Winter Olympics 2 3 2 Failure to return to South Korea for coaching 2 3 3 South Korean leadership activities 3 Conflict with mentor 4 Style 5 Awards and honors 6 Personal life 6 1 Russian citizenship 6 2 Political issues 7 Notes 8 In the media 9 Detailed results 9 1 Olympics results 9 2 World Championships Podiums results 9 3 World Cup Podiums results 9 4 World Cup medals results 9 4 1 67 Gold medals 9 4 2 37 Silver medals 9 4 3 25 Bronze medals 9 5 National competitions 10 References 11 External linksEarly life and education editAhn began skating in 1993 in his first year of primary 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 21 Incidentally these were the Games where Russia achieved a national record of 11 Olympic golds a feat that he himself would help to repeat twenty years later His coach Kim Ki hoon was a three time Olympic gold medalist who scouted Ahn and continued to train him He trained ten hours every day from techniques speed and endurance to video analysis 21 Career edit2000s edit Early career and the 2002 Winter Olympics edit Ahn made his international debut at the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in 2002 Finishing first in the 1500 m 1000 m and 5000 m relay events he claimed the overall title Ahn then participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City He made the finals for the 1000 m event but returned home without a medal after a controversial fall involving Apolo Ohno Li Jiajun and Mathieu Turcotte that allowed Australian Steve Bradbury to sweep the gold medal Ahn finished in fourth place behind Ohno and Turcotte 1 After the 2002 Olympics Ahn finished second to Kim Dong sung at his first senior level world championship competition the same year almost duplicating Kim s feat of winning both the Junior and Senior World Championship titles in 1997 Ahn began dominating the sport from the 2002 2003 season As well as claiming four overall and 1500 m World Championship titles in a row between 2003 and 2006 Ahn excelled himself at 1000 m and 3000 m during that period and also starred with the Republic of Korea s 5000 m relay team In all he won a total of 23 medals in that prolific spell and took the 2004 and 2006 World Cup titles for good measure 5 He also set the world records for the 1500 m in 2003 at World Cup 2 in Marquette 3 and the 3000 m at World Cup 4 in Beijing 4 which he held for the following eight years National team recommendation system edit South Korea has produced many outstanding short track speed skaters and is highly competitive in selecting the national team Their key method of selecting players is to automatically select the best players in advance according to the comprehensive podium rankings of the World Championships However there is a system that has disappeared after much controversy and factional fight It was the recommendation system 22 South Korea s elite sports system was strictly a top down relationship between leaders and athletes and the factions were formed according to the leaders and the factions of the players were also determined by their universities and leaders 23 24 And the players was disadvantaged if he disobeyed the instructions from the factional leader 25 26 Viktor Ahn is one of these representative players Ahn graduated from Korea National Sport University His leaders were Kim Ki hoon a three time Olympic champion 27 and Jun Myung kyu former vice president of the Korea Skating Union who was also the head coach of the Korean short track speed skating team from 1987 to 2002 28 Ahn as a junior consistently excelled in Korea s domestic competitions and captured the Overall title at the Junior World Championships Though he initially didn t participate in the national team trial he was subsequently recommended to join the 2002 national team as a substitute for an injured player This recommendation came from Park Seong in the president of the Korea Skating Union and Yoo Tae wook the federation s director 29 30 After observing Ahn s stellar performance at the Junior World Championships head coach Jun Myung kyu chose him for the Olympic team In a bold move Jun opted for the 16 year old who lacked international experience to compete in the 1000 m individual event a decision that faced opposition from the Korea Skating Union and others 31 32 The 2002 Olympics was his Senior international debut In addition to Ahn many athletes and leaders were recommended by the Korea Skating Union They were Chae Ji hoon Chun Lee kyung Kim So hee 33 Choi Min kyung 34 Ko Gi hyun Lee Ho suk and Choi Eun kyung 35 and also included were Kim Dong sung and Kim Sun tae who were injured and failed to participate in the national team trials 36 37 This referral system was used to discover talented players and give opportunities to injured players However there were players who were alienated which led to conflict In 2006 the recommendation system for selection of representative players of the Korea Skating Union disappeared from the national team trials as the conflict of factional fighting was exposed to the public 22 2002 2005 KNSU and Non KNSU edit Factional fight in south Korean ice skating was allegedly mentioned as a form of Korea National Sport University KNSU and non Korea National Sport University But it was far more complicated inside The power struggle of first generation ice skating leaders which started in the 1990s 38 39 changed form and influenced leaders their direct disciples and athletes and changed their relationship 23 24 In 2002 when Ahn became a member of the national team it was the time when Korean society was noisy due to the corruption of the ice skating world Athletes and parents who were University entrance students gave money to professors who were influential in the ice skating world and the professor received it And the person who reported the case and accused his senior of corruption is Jun Myung Kyu who becomes professor at the Korea National Sport University 40 41 In June 2003 Ahn decided to enter the Korea National Sport University in spite of exceptional conditions including the guarantee of professor posts in other universities 42 The recommendation system that selected Ahn for the national team in 2002 had been in place since 1995 even before Ahn s inclusion 33 but in the process At 16 he became the emblematic figure of the Korea National Sport University and professor Jun And those on the other side accused 16 year old Ahn of being responsible for factional conflicts in Korea s skating world 30 32 In 2003 2004 when Ahn s heyday began conflicts in the ice skating world and the tyranny of leaders were serious In the national team Jun Myung kyu stepped down from his post due to poor performance at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics and Olympic medalists Kim Ki hoon took over the men s national team 43 but in 2004 Kim was forced to resign due to the controversy over forcing his athletes to wear skates made by the family run skating company 44 In November 2004 Choi Eun kyung Byun Chun sa etc six women s team members left the athletes village due to the coach s habitual beating scandal 45 46 The coaches for the women s team have all been replaced 47 48 Two months later Ahn was assaulted at the Winter Universiade in January 2005 The men s team coach Yoon had to resign after the World Team Championships in March due to controversy over match fixing and assault allegations raised at the time 49 Kim Ki hoon was reelected coach of the men s team for the Turin 2006 Olympics instead of Yoon Jae Myung However in April 2005 seven other non Korea National Sport University athletes with the exception of Ahn Hyun soo declined to enter the athletes village They insisted The main person is fixed We can t trust a coach who favours a specific player At the end of the day Kim Ki hoon resigns saying I can t teach these players anymore 50 Kim Ki hoon was professor Jun s direct disciple Kim is known to have passed on special know how skating skills to Ahn 30 Kim Ki hoon mentioned in an interview in 2018 Ahn hyun soo was really outstanding Teach him one thing and he really absorbs it in like a sponge Ahn was not the only one to teach more I coached everyone on the national team but Ahn came to see me more often 51 2005 Conflict with Korea Skating Union edit Ahn was reported to be the victim of senior player Seo Ho jin s assault at the 2005 Winter Universiade Though Seo was expelled from the national team and Yoon Jae myung head coach for the event was dismissed on charges of match fixing 49 Seo returned to the national team for the 2006 Winter Olympics the next year Ahn refused to join the national team and take training in 2005 and also confronted with the leaders of the Korea Skating Union In July 2005 parents and coaches including Ahn and Choi Eun kyung Sung Si bak held a press conference and exposed coach Yoon Jae myung s Aiding and abetting assault It also called for the resignation of all federation leaders and announced its absence from the 2006 Turin Olympics 52 As a result coach Yoon s appointment has been canceled However the conflict at that time was at its peak At the height of the conflict the Korea Skating Union dismissed the national team coach Chun Jae Su who had called for the resignation of the entire leadership accusing him of stirring unrest among parents and athletes He was subsequently suspended for six months As a result Ahn declined to train with the national team Parents further alleged that there was political pressure exerted by a national assembly member associated with the Korean Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism This situation led Ahn to train with the women s team instead of the men s presenting considerable challenges leading up to the 2006 Olympics 53 Prior to his naturalization in Russia in 2011 Ahn mentioned that during this difficult time Sung Si bak and Lee Seung hoon who weren t then part of the national team supported him 54 The issue came back to the fore after Ahn s victory as a Russian in the 2014 Winter Olympics as the South Korean public questioned the Korea Skating Union of losing their biggest Olympic star Regarding the uproar against him Seo argued that the incident was just a form of discipline from senior to junior 55 but Ahn revealed in 2015 that he and his junior were hit with helmets on 56 In 2014 some Korean media outlets criticized that there was a line that went down from Jun Myung kyu Kim Ki hoon Ahn Hyun soo and it couldn t just blame the fact that the alienated players who became coaches held Ahn Hyun soo in check to oppose Jun Myung kyu and Ahn Hyun soo also wanted it or not he also could not be free from the responsibility of factional fighting 57 However in May 2005 The Hankyoreh newspaper reported The officials of the Korea Skating Union were investigated by police for receiving money from the father of a player who was disqualified for hitting a junior player at a Universiade in Austria earlier this year to return his son to the national team 58 2006 Winter Olympics edit At 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 Seo Ho jin and Song Suk woo With his patented outside overtaking maneuver he overtook defending champion Canada to get his third gold medal of the Games 59 60 Ahn became the second South Korean athlete ever to win three gold medals in one Olympics following Jin Sun yu who had accomplished this earlier on the same day He also won a bronze medal in the 500 m event 1 Ahn was the only athlete in Turin to step on to the podium four times 6 Ahn became the first short track speed skater to win a medal in every distance at a single Games a feat unprecedented by any athlete in his sport He is the first South Korean man to win at least 3 medals in a single Winter Olympics 6 61 Following the 2006 Olympics Ahn maintained his record at the 2006 World Championships in Minneapolis Despite being disqualified in the finals of the 500 m and 3000 m events his victories in both the 1000 m and 1500 m events helped him defend his title with 68 points followed by countryman Lee Ho suk with 60 points He became the first male short track skater to win four consecutive world titles 62 63 After Torino edit After the 2006 World Championships Ahn flew back to South Korea At Incheon International Airport Ahn s father had a loud quarrel with the vice president of the Korea Skating Union KSU claiming that the coach did not associate with Ahn and conspired with other skaters to prevent Ahn from winning the title of overall champion 64 65 Ahn collided with Lee Ho suk and Oh Se jong in the World Championship 3000m Super Final The airport incident which was reported on news screens caused a stir in the media and the public along with factional issues as a result the Korea Skating Union said it would hold a committee meeting to consider disciplinary action On April 26 2006 the reward and punishment committee concluded that it was not an intentional collision after playing the videos more than 100 times and that Ahn Hyun soo Lee Ho suk and Oh Se jong were all unintentional 66 67 The South Korean short track team was split into two groups in one of which Ahn was being coached by the women s coach Park Sae woo due to conflicts with the men s coach Song Jae kun even though Ahn was the main player winning the gold medal in the Turin Olympics 5000m relay the men s team members held a ceremony to their mentor commentator Lee Joon ho excluding only Ahn Hyun soo The tensions had risen so high that the skaters 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 the previous year in skating camps but due to the conflict they had begun to rarely speak to each other 68 31 Ahn mentioned on his personal website that the pressure was too much for him and he contemplated quitting the sport Due to the issue KSU stated that starting next season the team would be united under one head coach to prevent deleterious rivalries 65 In spite of the conflicts Ahn continued to dominate the sport At the 2007 World Championships held in Milan Ahn won his fifth world championship finishing first in the 1000 m and in the 5000 m relay with teammates Kim Byeong jun Sung Si bak Song Kyung taek and Kim Hyun kon He also won silver in the 3000 m behind Song and won two bronze medals in the 500 m and the 1500 m With this victory Ahn became the first man to win five consecutive world championships 69 1 Ahn is the only male short track skater to have won at least three consecutive world championships Canadian short track legend Marc Gagnon has won four times but his titles did not come back to back Injury in early 2008 edit On January 16 2008 the Korea Skating Union KSU reported that Ahn had injured his knee after colliding with a fence during national team training at the Korea Training Center in Taeneung The skate blade got stuck on the ice then the Ahn fell and bumped his knee on the fence 70 71 The fence placed to absorb the shock froze hard like a rock causing serious injury rather than absorbing the impact After being sent to the hospital the injury was diagnosed as a fractured knee 72 73 Due to the injury KSU announced that Ahn would not be competing in the ISU Samsung World Cup Series 5 and 6 in Quebec City and Salt Lake City respectively It was also reported that he would not be competing in the 2008 World Championships in Gangneung or the 2008 World Team Championships in Harbin China As a result of the unexpected injury it was clear that Ahn would be unable to defend his sixth World title leaving his countrymen Lee Ho suk Song Kyung taek and Lee Seung hoon to make up the ground After undergoing three surgeries his rehabilitation period was predicted to be around 2 3 months 71 After eight months off the ice a South Korean news article reported on September 5 2008 that Ahn was back training undergoing approximately two hours of physical reinforcement and skating along with around five hours of rehabilitation accompanied by muscular power training The article also reported that Ahn was eyeing the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Canada 74 However his recovery from the injury was much slower than initially expected and he had to undergo four surgeries in 15 months 75 5 In 2009 Ahn finished seventh overall at the Korean national team trials which was not enough for him to qualify for the Olympic team Not having fully recovered from his injury he again was unable to qualify for the national team in the following season In 2010 2011 Ahn served as a commentator for SBS Sports on the season s World Cup series and World Championships 76 2010s edit 2010 Conflict with Korea Skating Union edit After the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics the Korean short track was embroiled in scandals such as match fixing and internal factions Deals for rights of Olympic and World Championship participation took place among athletes and coaches of the same faction However this soon caused divisions between the athletes leading to subsequent exposures 77 78 The word of these incidents spread among the athletes parents 79 and was exposed by Ahn Hyun soo s father 80 81 Ahn Hyun Soo s father has decided to reveal the match fixing of the national team trial for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver due to the following reasons 79 82 A family of Lee Jung su noticed that Lee lost his opportunity to participate individual event for the World Championship Moreover Lee Jung Su had to forcefully write down an oath stating that he will not participate the World Championship as demanded by his coaches and head coach 83 84 The family of Lee has informed this event to theother parents of the athletes and they have decided to report the Korea Skating Union to Korean Sports Council Investigation Committee for thorough investigation They started a petition for the investigation and more than 200 people agreed to join the petition yet more than 300 people s engagement was needed in order to file the case to the committee In this sense they requested the father of Ahn who is influential to the public to post this scandal on his son s Fan Club Page and finally this scandal has been completely revealed to Korean society and the public 79 82 This incident had a huge impact The players involved and the Vancouver Olympic coaches have all been disciplined 85 86 The leaders of the Korea Skating Union were all forced to resign 87 Ahn Ki won Ahn Hyun soo s father pointed out the Korea Skating Union s leadership including the then resigned vice president Yoo Tae wook and Jun Myung kyu for exerting undue pressure on coaches and athletes 88 89 Ahn became a whistleblower who informed the South Korean society of the dark side of Korean shorttrack speed skating of factional fight and match fixing regardless of his will 88 And it took a toll on him officially or informally The selection of the national team was suddenly postponed and Ahn Hyun soo overlapped with the four week basic military training period 90 disrupted his own training plan 91 92 Suspicions have also been raised that he missed an Olympic opportunity by disobeying the factional leader s words 25 93 Noise and controversy continued around him regarding factional issues and the way the national team was selected 94 And his team Seongnam City declared a moratorium in July 2010 and decided to dismantle the ice skating team in December 2010 But there was not a team to scouted Ahn Hyun soo 9 95 Naturalization to Russia edit Ahn last competed as a South Korean citizen at the national team trials in April 2011 where he took gold in the 500 m Prior to the trials his local team Seongnam City Hall dissolved due to financial reasons and therefore Ahn had to train by himself Shortly before this competition he informed the South Korean media that it would be his farewell performance 96 Ahn finished fifth overall at the national team trials 97 After the trials Ahn announced that he will be moving to Russia because he wanted to skate in an environment where he could concentrate in skating apart from the issues surrounding him 54 He moved to Russia in June 2011 and decided to naturalize on July On December 28 2011 he was officially granted a Russian nationality by President Dmitry Medvedev His Korean nationality was automatically extinguished by the South Korean nationality law which does not allow dual nationality 63 Since then South Korean media has reported that he received the full Olympic medal pension in July 2011 and decided to naturalized to Russia in August Based on this when the Korea skating coach union pointed out pension receipt due to morality issues in the process of hiring Seongnam City coach in 2023 Viktor Ahn said he decided on everything in July 2011 and donated the entire pension just before Russian naturalization for the first time in 12 years 19 18 In a 2015 documentary aired on South Korea s MBC Ahn disclosed that there was pressure from Korea Skating Union an official just before his naturalization in Russia The official warned This athlete is a problematic player in South Korea and should never be accepted 98 31 2011 Conflict with the South Korean coaches edit South Korean coaches and staff were already in Russia before Ahn decided to go to Russia But in October 2011 the Russian Skating Union fired everyone leaving Viktor Ahn alone According to South Korean media reports at the time internal conflicts between leaders South Korean experts never notified Russian coaches how to prepare skating equipment accordingly in shorttrack speed skating compulsory training and corporal punishment on athletes were the reasons for the dismissal 99 100 At that time however there were rumors in South Korea that Ahn was reluctant to undergo Korean style training again 101 After this incident Ahn s wife Woo Nari and coach Hwang Ik hwan who were coach of his team for Seongnam City just before his naturalization were invited to Russia for Viktor Ahn s rehabilitation and psychotherapy 102 103 Along with this incident during the 2014 Sochi Olympics the 2004 women s short track team assault incident was re examined This is because the assault incident of women player team in 2004 and one of the coaches who had a conflict with Viktor Ahn in Russia in 2011 was on the coaching staff of the South Korea national team 104 About this issue coach Hwang Ik hwan had an interview as follows Hyun soo won first place in the 500m in the last national trial in Korea before going to Russia In other words his physical condition was not bad However he was in the worst slump when I met him after six months Even after they were expelled from the Russian Skating Union Hyun soo could not easily get out of that wound for a while 105 In 2018 an official from the Korean skating world also revealed the following Viktor Ahn had to went through hard time in the early days of settling in Russia And he was able to train normally only after the Russian Skating Union fired the coach 102 Heading to Sochi edit Ahn participated in the Russian national team trials for the 2011 2012 season and was selected as a relay member for the season He made his debut as a Russian short track speed skater at World Cup 5 in Moscow 106 In the national trials for the 2012 2013 season Ahn won the 1000 m and 3000 m events 107 successfully pulling off to the national team At World Cup 1 in Calgary he won his first individual gold in the international stage since his knee injury four years ago 108 He also contributed to Russia s first ever relay gold at World Cup 5 in Sochi making an inside pass that reminded of performances in his heyday 109 Ahn came through the Olympic season with flying colors finishing second in the overall World Cup rankings and winning four golds at the 2014 European Championships While his knee injury did not allow him to top the 1500 m races that he had dominated when representing Korea his experience technique and exclusive training on the 500 m helped Ahn lead the distance in the World Cup rankings 110 111 2014 Winter Olympics edit nbsp Ahn at the men s 500 m podium at the 2014 Olympics At the 2014 Winter Olympics Ahn won the bronze medal in the 1500 m event which was the first short track speed skating medal that Russia had ever earned 112 Ahn then won the first Russian gold medal in short track winning the 1000 m event by leading the first Russian 1 2 finish in short track with Vladimir Grigorev 113 On February 21 Ahn won his seventh overall and fifth Winter Olympic gold medal when he finished first in the 500 m men s final 114 With that gold medal he became the first short track skater to win all four Olympic golds the 500 m 1000 m 1500 m and 5000 m relay He also became the short track speed skater with the most Olympic gold medals with five which increased to six with a 5000 m relay win later the same day 115 With that gold he became the short tracker with the most Olympic medals at eight tied with Apolo Ohno he also became the short tracker with the most Olympic gold medals at six 116 After his victory Koreans came to an uproar questioning the Korea Skating Union of the reason for Ahn s naturalization which eventually caused Korean President Park Geun hye to order an investigation on the issue 10 Contrary to the public opinion in Korea Ahn contended that he did not move to Russia because of factionalism 117 He also added that his father who had argued Ahn was the victim of faction fight in Korea was contradicting him and going to the Olympics was the sole reason why he made the difficult decision to come to Russia Ahn expressed his concern that though his relationship with the Korean athletes had no problems the press was making them awkward 118 119 120 After Sochi edit In the 2014 World Championships held a month after the Olympics Ahn won the 1000 m and finished third in the 3000 m grabbing his sixth world title by 63 points He became the only man to win six world championships in the sport After his prolific season Ahn continued his skating career despite a part move into coaching 11 121 122 He missed the 2015 2016 season due to knee problems and his wife s pregnancy 5 123 In an interview after the 2016 World Championships which he did not take part in but did watch he told the press that doctors have warned him undergoing extra surgery would jeopardize his career and thus he is working on adding muscles to relieve the pain 124 Ahn continued to win medals at the World and European championships for Russia He won bronze in the 500 m and silver in the 5000 m relay at the 2017 European Championships and won silver in the 500 m race at the 2018 European Championships Although Ahn had planned to retire after participating the 2018 Winter Olympics in his native South Korea 124 he missed out the Olympics in the wake of the alleged sports doping in Russia 31 The IOC did not disclose the specific reasons for banning Ahn only mentioning lingering suspicions about doping use regarding the country Ahn who had never tested positive for drugs challenged the decision writing an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach 125 but he was not answered Retirement edit Ahn decided to retire from the sport and return to his home country of South Korea after rejecting an offer to coach the Russian team in September 2018 126 64 After stepping off ice Ahn starred in the South Korean variety reality show Real Man 300 127 128 He was also noticed working as a player coach at Korea National Sports University 129 In 2018 Ahn received an offer as a national team leader from the South Korea as well as the Russia national team 130 A senior South Korean official revealed in February of that year that there had been informal discussions and the final decision rested with Ahn 131 However the Korea Skating Union was soon mired in controversy due to an assault on a female player and a related MeToo incident involving a national team coach which drew significant attention in South Korean society and led to government investigations 28 132 Amid the tumultuous events within the Korea Skating Union Viktor Ahn s discussions to lead the South Korean national team were hindered by his controversies and lack of coaching experience The offer ultimately dissolved when he rejoined the Russian national team for the 2019 2020 season 19 133 In February 2019 Ahn reversed his decision announcing that he wanted to compete as an athlete 134 Aged 33 he won silver in the 500 m and 1000 m races respectively at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City and Shanghai before anchoring Russia to gold in the mixed gender 2 000 m relay and men s 5 000 m relay 5 11 In April 2020 Ahn revealed that knee problems were affecting his ability to train and that it was time for him to finally finish his skating career 8 135 In his retirement statement he announced he will continue to work for the sport 136 137 2020s edit 2022 Winter Olympics edit In 2018 Ahn was offered a coaching position for China s national speed skating team by Wang Meng who had been Ahn s acquaintance since 2002 Although Ahn declined the offer in 2018 he accepted the offer in late 2019 12 138 As the top assistant of Kim Sun tae head coach for China s short track team in the 2022 Winter Olympics and previous head coach for Korea s short track team in the 2018 Winter Olympics Ahn helped Chinese players win two gold medals one silver medal and one bronze medal in Beijing 139 140 His training style was to skate with the athletes throughout the sessions so that they could naturally learn how to make steps 141 When Korean skaters were disqualified during the men s 1000 m semifinals arousing short track speed skating controversies South Korean netizens directed anger and criticism towards Ahn who was seen congratulating his team for winning gold in the 2000 m mixed relay 142 143 In addition some Korean media and the public have remarked that he received an Olympic medal pension sports pension just prior to his naturalization in Russia 144 Regarding the Olympic medal pension he has already been confirmed to have received the most sports pension among South Korean sports athletes through a parliamentary audit by the South Korean National Assembly in October 2012 During his career he received a pension of more than 370 million won from the state 145 The receipt of the Olympic medal pension has been raised since his naturalization but it has not been much controversy However in 2021 his junior Lin Xiaojun Lim Hyo jun an Olympic gold medalist was known to have decided to naturalize to China and major South Korean media compared Lin XiaoJun who was naturalized to China over the repeated naturalization of Korean ace athletes to other countries and pensions for the first time in 10 years 146 And anti Chinese sentiment during the 2022 Beijing Olympics has raised criticism over his receipt of the Olympic medal pension Not responding to interview requests during the Games Ahn shared his thoughts on the issue in March in an interview with the Korean press by saying I kept a stiff upper lip because I didn t want to be an irresponsible person Due to the nature of the sport judgment problems can occur at any time All players come to the game with the mindset that they should be careful about decision issues but the unexpected often happens on ice Regarding the accusations that were poured on not only him but also his family Ahn said It suddenly occurred to me that if I gave up short track speed skating this controversy would end adding I thought I had been supported for my passion and games but it was heartbreaking to see unexpected things lead to criticism He yet stated that despite the adversities he won t be leaving the sport 141 94 After the Olympics Ahn rejected a four year coaching position and returned to Korea having not met his family for 19 months due to Covid 19 situations 94 Furthermore Ahn declined long term leadership offers from third countries outside of South Korea China and Russia 14 147 Failure to return to South Korea for coaching edit In 2023 Ahn returned to South Korea and applied to be a coach for Seongnam City s short track speed skating team 13 14 However he is under huge criticism from the South Korean short track speed skating coaches as he has helped South Korean rival China to gain medals during the 2022 Beijing Olympics The Korea skating coach union urged Seongnam City to appoint a coach that meets the public eye level and criticized Ahn that he lied during the naturalization process and betrayed his country avoiding the fact that Ahn was mistreated by the Korea Skating Union after his injuries 15 In late January Seongnam City s short track speed skating team announced that no one is qualified to be a coach meaning that Ahn is unlikely to be coach for his homeland 148 After Seongnam City has since announced that there are no successful candidates and the city ultimately decided not to fill the vacant coaching position 149 since then the Korea skating coach union has been known as a close aide to a specific candidate and suspicions have been raised that the disciplinary history of a specific candidate has not been raised 19 18 As a result some South Korean media outlets suggested that there was a factional power struggle and political involvement in the ice skating world 150 151 Following South Korea s rejection of Viktor Ahn through TASS Russian Skating Union president expressed that they would like to appoint Ahn 148 152 In 2022 Russia invited Viktor Ahn to become an advisor to the Skating Union but he refused due to objections by Ahn s wife 153 154 While Russia sports media outlet Sport Express urged Ahn to return to Russia as a leader 155 156 On February 7 Viktor Ahn expressed his position on the controversy over Russian naturalization on his social network service SNS after received a lump sum payment of the athletes pension which the Korea skating coach union pointed out as a moral issue At first he thought dual citizenship was possible However when he found out that he had to give up his Korean nationality he decided that it was right to return the Olympic medal pension he received And before naturalization in Russia he made a full donation to children in need of heart surgery and junior athletes in need of rehabilitation and treatment Since then some of the pensions have been delivered to the family of Noh Jin kyu his junior athlete at the Korean National Sport University according to a South Korean ice skating official Ahn then said that he would humbly accept the criticism of choosing naturalization for any reason but he said he would raise speak out when there is misunderstanding 18 19 On February 9 The Hankyoreh pointed out Seongnam City s negligence in administration in that Ahn s coaching support was exposed in advance in connection with the recruitment of the ice skating team at Seongnam City While the Korea Skating Coaches Union pointed out that it was not the opinion of the Korean ice skating leaders as a whole and that it was a serious problem for the media to report the opinions of certain unofficial organizations as the opinions of the entire leaders 157 South Korean leadership activities edit On April 13 2023 South Korean media reported as follows Viktor Ahn will participate as a coach for multiple skaters in the 2023 24 season for the South Korean national team trials He personally coached young skaters at the Korea National Sport University after the 2022 Beijing Olympics 20 Among them seven players from high school and Korea National Sport University wrote him as a leader on the application form for participation in the national team trials 158 159 This is Ahn s first official South Korean leadership acitivity 20 According to JTBC Ahn completed the Korea Skating Union s leader s lesson in Korea after the 2022 Beijing Olympics 159 According to the Korea Sports Association and the Korea Skating Union Registration Regulations which have been changed since April 12 2021 due to years of violation of human rights of ice sports and ethical controversy of ice coaches in Korea even a leader who has obtained a coach national license must complete a leader course before he can serve as a leader of the Korea Skating Union 160 Conflict with mentor editThis issue that has been consistently mentioned due to Ahn s choice of naturalization in Russia is the issues of conflict with his mentor Jun Myung kyu vice president of the Korea Skating Union According to Korean medias Professor Jun was the planner of all Ahn s career paths Jun was Ahn s professor And he was Ahn s personal coach in 2007 However Ahn disobeyed the professor Jun s words 118 32 In 2014 his father and Lee Joon ho who was the former coach of the national team said the following Ahn was set to graduate from Korea National Sport University in 2007 Ahn chose the Seongnam City Hall Short track team that Professor Jun did not want and the relationship between Professor Jun and Ahn was estranged 118 73 During the Olympics Chang Myung hee former president of the Korea Skating Union also said that Vice President Jun Myung kyu had abused his authority and Ahn was disadvantaged 26 In fact the conflict with factional leaders was also mentioned by the South Korean media in 2010 25 93 In 2018 Another a Korean skating official commented A mere 16 days after Viktor Ahn joined the Seongnam City Hall skating team he sustained a severe injury during training Subsequently Seongnam City Hall suspended the team s operations Ahn s strained relationship with Jun Myung kyu the president of Korea Ice Skating made it challenging for him to find a suitable place to train and compete within the country 102 In March 2014 Professor Jun stepped down as vice president of the Korean Skaters Union 161 However in 2014 Ahn and the Korea Skating Union denied any conflicts or factional issues 118 119 The assault of the women s short track team coach during the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the athletes discord over women s speed skating factions raised the issue of the responsibility of Samsung which had sponsored the Korea Skating Union and the Korea Skating Union The Korea Skating Union was investigated by the government including the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism 28 162 Viktor Ahn and Professor Jun have returned to the agenda 163 164 However in February 2018 Viktor Ahn sent a text message to South Korean Culture Sports and Tourism Committee Member of parliament Ahn Min seok Ahn Min seok said that Ahn hyun soo has a good relationship with Professor Jun Myung kyu and released it to the South Korean media 162 165 In March 2022 Viktor Ahn said Yonhap News Agency in an interview that he had never been disadvantaged by the Korea Skating Union 94 Style edit Ahn is a master of short track speed skating particularly in controlling the track during competition Wu Dajing 31 In terms of his racing strategy when he s following the other skaters he s not really just following He s always waiting for that perfect chance to pass Chae Ji hoon 166 Viktor Ahn as he s now called is the most beautiful short track skating athlete in the world in terms of his technique and the way he skates If there is any athlete that is designed for short track body type wise it is him If you watch him stand and jog his pelvic is tilted forward naturally which is perfect for a skater He has incredible technique tons of experience Apolo Anton Ohno 167 168 Awards and honors editRepresenting KoreaAhn was awarded the Outstanding Player Award at the Sports Chosun Coca Cola Sports Awards in January 2006 169 After his victory in Torino he was selected as Player of the Month by the American Sports Academy 170 He was also named as honorary ambassador for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics bidding committee with Jin Sun yu 171 In 2008 Ahn was selected as the Most Valuable Player with Lee Kyou hyuk and Yuna Kim by the Korea Skating Union 172 In the same year he also received the Men s Team Award at the Asian Sports Awards 173 with Lee Ho seok Song Suk woo Oh Se jong and Seo Ho jin Ahn was chosen as the ambassador for the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation in 2009 174 Representing Russia nbsp nbsp In March 2013 Ahn was named as Merited Master of Sport by the Russian Federation 175 176 After his feat in Sochi Ahn was awarded the Order For Merit to the Fatherland from Russian President Vladimir Putin 177 and the Medal For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms 178 176 He was also selected Most Valuable Player in the Sochi Winter Olympics by NBC 179 180 and 2014 Athlete of the Year by the Russian edition of GQ magazine 181 5 In light of his status as a South Korean born Russian Ahn was further named as honorary ambassador for the 2014 2015 Korea Russia Year of Mutual Visit in 2014 182 In 2016 Ahn received the Proud Alumnus Award at his alma mater 183 184 He was also inducted into the Korea National Sports University Ice Rink Hall of Fame as the 2006 Winter Olympics champion and the Sochi Walk of Fame as the 2014 Winter Olympics champion 185 186 Personal life editAhn is married to Woo Nari Korean 우나리 a Korean born in 1983 187 188 Nari was a member of Ahn s fan club Ahn said that her presence and care helped him adapt to Russia 189 190 Their daughter was born in December 2015 191 192 But his wife Woo Nari couldn t endure the life in Russia and missed South Korea so eventually left Russia The Russian media reported that his wife wanted to raise their daughter in South Korea and Viktor Ahn s choice to go to South Korea was influenced by his wife 148 152 Ahn s younger brother is speed skater Ahn Hyun Jun He made the Korean national speed skating team for the 2022 23 season 193 194 The younger Ahn switched from short track to speed skating in 2021 195 Russian citizenship edit nbsp Vladimir Putin and Ahn after the 2014 Olympics Ahn trained in Russia and received Russian citizenship to compete for Russia in the 2014 Winter Olympics Ahn s father stated that the decision was due to lack of support from the South Korean skating association 196 Prior to moving to Russia Ahn did not know the Russian language and had no familial ties to Russia He had considered competing for the United States but found that the process for gaining Russian citizenship was much easier He chose Viktor as his Russian name as it derived from Victory 197 and to pay tribute to Viktor Tsoi a Soviet rock star of ethnic Korean descent 198 63 In South Korea fury erupted over the loss of Ahn to Team Russia after his participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics Several newspapers reported the scorn of the South Korean public and newspaper editors on the actions of the skating federation Right after the Olympics the Minister of Sports and President Park Geun hye of South Korea both promised action in rooting out corruption and feuding at the organization that may have led to Ahn s defection in a bid to clean it up in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea In September 2018 Ahn announced his retirement from short track and moved back to South Korea 126 The South Korean public was generally supportive of Ahn in early 2014 198 199 but he also received online bashing amidst controversies at Sochi and in later years 57 200 In 2023 Ahn sought a coaching position in South Korea despite having renounced his South Korean citizenship when becoming Russian He was denied that position due to significant public opposition 17 Political issues edit In 2011 Ahn s decision to naturalize became a contentious political issue with some attributing the responsibility to Seongnam Mayor at the time Lee Jae myung By 2014 Lee defended himself by emphasizing that the state supervised Korea Skating Union should be held accountable rather than the leaders of Local government A significant development occurred in February 2022 when Won Hee ryong associated with Yoon Suk Yeol s People s Power presidential campaign asserted that Viktor Ahn s choice to become a Russian national was influenced by Lee Jae myung Won Hee ryong further claimed that the halting of operations for the Seongnam City Hall ice skating team was a disguise for bankruptcy and alleged that 30 billion won from Seongnam City s funds were diverted to acquire Seongnam FC in a bid to boost the mayor s re election prospects The Democratic Party of Korea refuted the allegations deeming them false Concurrently Korean ice skating officials emphasized the difficulty in isolating a single cause especially when injuries and team disbandments coincided with ongoing factional controversies within the ice skating community 201 202 As of 2022 Lee Jae myung faces legal scrutiny for allegedly accepting 17 billion won in unauthorized bribes from companies masked as donations to Seongnam FC 203 204 Notes editHe can restore his South Korean nationality under the South Korean nationality law a 205 In 2003 at the age of 17 he was exempted from military service by winning three gold medals at the Asian Games and finished his four weeks of basic military training in 2010 For sports personnels who are exempted from active duty are recognized to have completed 34 months of military service if they have spent time as athletes in their field 206 In September 2018 A South Korean Ministry of National Defense official said in an interview with South Korean media Ahn hyun soo has already completed his military service 206 But if Ahn gets his South Korean citizenship back he has to renounce his Russian citizenship 205 South Korean nationality law Article 9 Acquisition of Nationality through Reinstatement of Nationality 1 A foreigner who was a national of the Republic of Korea may acquire the nationality of the Republic of Korea through obtaining permission of reinstatement of nationality by the Minister of Justice 2 The Minister of Justice shall not allow the reinstatement of nationality to a person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs after screening such person who has applied for the reinstatement of nationality 1 A person who has inflicted harm on the State or society 2 A person whose conduct is disorderly 3 A person who lost or renounced his her nationality of the Republic of Korea in order to evade military service 4 A person for whom the Minister of Justice regards the reinstatement of his her nationality as inappropriate for the purposes of national security sustainment of order or public welfare In the media editIn the 2010 2011 season Ahn served as a short track commentator for SBS Sports He covered the World Cup series 3 6 and the World Championships 207 208 From 2014 to 2016 he guest starred in three episodes of Russia s late night talk show Evening Urgant episodes S3 E90 S4 E104 S5 E157 209 From 2017 to 2018 Ahn guest starred in the South Korean variety reality show The Return of Superman episodes 202 204 237 241 with his daughter 210 In 2018 he starred in the South Korean variety reality show Real Man 300 episodes 1 15 18 127 211 Other television appearances of Ahn are as follows Han Su jin s Sunday Click South Korean talk show with Jin Sun yu episode 49 212 Human Docu Love South Korean documentary with wife Woo Nari episodes 44 45 213 214 Live Talk Show Taxi South Korean talk show with wife Woo Nari episode 488 215 Detailed results editOlympics results edit Competition Location Date Rank Event Video 2002 Winter Olympics nbsp Salt Lake Ice Center 13 23 February 2002 13 1500 m 4 1000 m 216 DNS 500 m DNS 5000 m relay 2006 Winter Olympics nbsp Torino Palavela February 13 2006 nbsp 1 1500 m 217 218 February 19 2006 nbsp 1 1000 m a 219 February 25 2006 nbsp 3 500 m February 25 2006 nbsp 1 5000 m relay b 220 2014 Winter Olympics nbsp Iceberg Skating Palace February 10 2014 nbsp 3 1500 m February 15 2014 nbsp 1 1000 m 221 February 21 2014 nbsp 1 500 m 222 223 February 21 2014 nbsp 1 5000 m relay c 224 225 2006 Winter Olympics Men s 1000 m Former OR 2006 Winter Olympics Men s 5000 m relay Former OR 2014 Winter Olympics Men s 5000 m relay Former OR World Championships Podiums results edit Six time Overall world champion 20 world titles 18 gold medals Event Gold Silver Bronze podiums Overall 6 x nbsp 1 x nbsp 7 500m 1 x nbsp 2 x nbsp 3 1000m 4 x nbsp 3 x nbsp 7 1500m 4 x nbsp 1 x nbsp 5 3 000 m a 2 3 2 7 distances 14 x nbsp 5 x nbsp 3 x nbsp 22 29 relay 4 x nbsp 2 x nbsp 6 Total 18 20 7 10 3 5 28 35 super final involving eight competitors with highest points after completion of other distances 2002 2nd 2003 1st 2004 1st 2005 2nd 2006 DSQ 2007 2nd 2013 7th 2014 3rd 2017 3rd The 3000m Super Final is not awarded a medal but the ranking and record are recognized Overall points and medals results Date Competition Location Rank Event 5 7 April 2002 2002 nbsp Montreal 226 nbsp 2 42 points a Overall nbsp 2 1000m nbsp 2 3000m nbsp 1 Relay 19 21 March 2003 2003 nbsp Warsaw 227 nbsp 1 89 points b Overall nbsp 2 1000m nbsp 1 1500m nbsp 1 3000m nbsp 1 Relay 19 21 April 2004 2004 nbsp Gothenburg 228 nbsp 1 102 points c Overall nbsp 1 1000m nbsp 1 1500m nbsp 1 3000m nbsp 1 Relay 5 6 March 2005 2005 nbsp Beijing 229 nbsp 1 89 points d Overall nbsp 3 500m nbsp 2 1000m nbsp 1 1500m nbsp 2 3000m nbsp 2 Relay 29 31 March 2006 2006 nbsp Minneapolis 230 nbsp 1 68 points e Overall nbsp 1 1000m nbsp 1 1500m 9 11 March 2007 2007 nbsp Milan 69 nbsp 1 81 points f Overall nbsp 3 500m nbsp 1 1000m nbsp 3 1500m nbsp 2 3000m nbsp 1 Relay 14 16 March 2013 2013 nbsp Debrecen 231 6 23 points g Overall nbsp 2 500m 7 3000m nbsp 2 Relay 14 16 March 2014 2014 nbsp Montreal 232 nbsp 1 63 points h Overall 4 500m nbsp 1 1000m 4 1500m nbsp 3 3000m 10 12 March 2017 2017 nbsp Debrecen 233 7 23 points i Overall 7 500m 4 1500m nbsp 3 3000m 42 points 1000 m 21 3000 m 21 89 points 1000 m 21 1500 m 34 3000 m 34 102 points 1000 m 34 1500 m 34 3000 m 34 89 points 500 m 13 1000 m 21 1500 m 34 3000 m 21 68 points 1000 m 34 1500 m 34 81 points 500 m 13 1000 m 34 1500 m 13 3000 m 21 23 points 500 m 21 3000 m 2 63 points 500 m 8 1000 m 34 1500 m 8 3000 m 13 23 points 500 m 2 1500 m 8 3000 m 13 World Team Championships Team nbsp South Korea date Competition Location rank 29 30 March 2002 Team 2002 nbsp Milwaukee nbsp 3 15 16 March 2003 Team 2003 nbsp Sofia nbsp 2 13 14 March 2004 Team 2004 nbsp Saint Petersburg nbsp 1 5 6 March 2005 Team 2005 nbsp Chuncheon nbsp 2 25 26 March 2006 Team 2006 nbsp Montreal nbsp 1 17 18 March 2007 Team 2007 nbsp Budapest nbsp 2 World Cup Podiums results edit 2 times Overall World Cup winner 6 time individual distances World Cup winner 67 World Cup victories World Cup Ranking Event 1st 2nd 3rd podiums Overall 2 3 1 6 500m 2 1 1 4 1000m 2 4 1 7 1500m 2 4 1 7 Total 8 12 4 24 World Cup medals Event gold Silver bronze podiums Overall 7 3 5 15 500m 6 4 2 12 1000m 13 10 5 28 1500m 16 7 5 28 3000m 6 6 2 14 distances 48 30 19 97 Relay 19 7 6 32 medals 67 x nbsp 37 x nbsp 25 x nbsp 129 Total 75 x nbsp 49 x nbsp 29 x nbsp 153 World Cup Ranking Podiums season Overall 500m 1000m 1500m 2002 03 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 2003 04 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2004 05 3rd 2nd 2nd 2005 06 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2007 08 2nd 1st 2nd 2012 13 2nd 2nd 2013 14 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd Podiums 6 4 7 7 Total 24 World Cup medals results edit 67 Gold medals nbsp edit gold medals No Competition Location Event 1 2002 03 nbsp Chuncheon Overall 2 2002 03 nbsp Chuncheon 500 m 3 2002 03 nbsp Chuncheon 1000 m 4 2002 03 nbsp Chuncheon 1500 m 5 2002 03 nbsp Chuncheon 3000 m S F 6 2002 03 nbsp Bormio 3000 m S F 7 2003 04 nbsp Michigan Overall 8 2003 04 nbsp Michigan 1000 m 9 2003 04 nbsp Michigan 1500 m 10 2003 04 nbsp Michigan 5000 m relay 11 2003 04 nbsp Jeonju 1500 m 12 2003 04 nbsp Beijing Overall 13 2003 04 nbsp Beijing 1500 m 14 2003 04 nbsp Beijing 3000 m S F 15 2003 04 nbsp Mlada Boleslav Overall 16 2003 04 nbsp Mlada Boleslav 1500 m 17 2004 05 nbsp Harbin 1000 m 18 2004 05 nbsp Harbin 3000 m S F 19 2004 05 nbsp Harbin 5000 m relay 20 2004 05 nbsp Beijing Overall 21 2004 05 nbsp Beijing 500 m 22 2004 05 nbsp Beijing 1000 m 23 2004 05 nbsp Beijing 1500 m 24 2004 05 nbsp Beijing 3000 m S F 25 2004 05 nbsp Beijing 5000 m relay 26 2004 05 nbsp Budapest 1500 m 27 2004 05 nbsp Spisska Nova Ves 3000 m S F 28 2005 06 nbsp Hangzhou Overall 29 2005 06 nbsp Hangzhou 1000 m 30 2005 06 nbsp Hangzhou 5000 m relay 31 2005 06 nbsp Seoul 1500 m 32 2005 06 nbsp Seoul 5000 m relay 33 2005 06 nbsp Bormio 500 m 34 2005 06 nbsp Bormio 5000 m relay 35 2005 06 nbsp Hague Overall 36 2005 06 nbsp Hague 500 m 37 2005 06 nbsp Hague 1500 m 38 2006 07 nbsp Changchun 1000 m 39 2006 07 nbsp Changchun 1500 m 40 2006 07 nbsp Changchun 5000 m relay 41 2006 07 nbsp Jeonju 1500 m 42 2006 07 nbsp Saguenay 1000 m 43 2006 07 nbsp Saguenay 5000 m relay 44 2006 07 nbsp Montreal 1500 m 1 45 2006 07 nbsp Montreal 5000 m relay 46 2007 08 nbsp Harbin 1000 m 47 2007 08 nbsp Harbin 1500 m 48 2007 08 nbsp Harbin 5000 m relay 234 235 49 2007 08 nbsp Kobe 1000 m 50 2007 08 nbsp Kobe 1500 m 51 2007 08 nbsp Kobe 5000 m relay 236 237 52 2007 08 nbsp Heerenveen 1000 m 53 2007 08 nbsp Heerenveen 5000 m relay 54 2007 08 nbsp Turin 1500 m 55 2007 08 nbsp Turin 5000 m relay 56 2012 13 nbsp Calgary 1000 m 57 2012 13 nbsp Nagoya 1000 m 58 2012 13 nbsp Shanghai 1500 m 59 2012 13 nbsp Sochi 5000 m relay 60 2013 14 nbsp Seoul 500 m 61 2013 14 nbsp Kolomna 500 m 62 2014 15 nbsp Salt Lake City 1000 m 63 2014 15 nbsp Salt Lake City 5000 m relay 64 2016 17 nbsp Dresden 5000 m relay 65 2019 20 nbsp Salt Lake City 2000 m mixed relay 66 2019 20 nbsp Salt Lake City 5000 m relay 67 2019 20 nbsp Shanghai 5000 m relay 37 Silver medals nbsp edit Silver medals No Competition Location Event 1 2002 03 nbsp Beijing 1500 m 2 2002 03 nbsp Beijing 3000 m S F 3 2002 03 nbsp Saint Petersburg 1500 m 4 2002 03 nbsp Saint Petersburg 3000 m S F 5 2002 03 nbsp Bormio Overall 6 2002 03 nbsp Bormio 1000 m 7 2003 04 nbsp Calgary 1500 m 8 2003 04 nbsp Michigan 500 m 9 2003 04 nbsp Jeonju 3000 m S F 10 2003 04 nbsp Beijing 1000 m 11 2003 04 nbsp Mlada Boleslav 1000 m 12 2003 04 nbsp Mlada Boleslav 3000 m S F 13 2004 05 nbsp Harbin Overall 14 2004 05 nbsp Harbin 1500 m 15 2004 05 nbsp Spisska Nova Ves 1000 m 16 2004 05 nbsp Spisska Nova Ves 5000 m relay 17 2005 06 nbsp Hangzhou 500 m 18 2005 06 nbsp Hangzhou 1500 m 19 2005 06 nbsp Hangzhou 3000 m S F 20 2005 06 nbsp Seoul Overall 21 2005 06 nbsp Seoul 3000 m S F 22 2005 06 nbsp Hague 5000 m relay 23 2006 07 nbsp Montreal 1500 m 2 24 2007 08 nbsp Turin 1000 m 25 2012 13 nbsp Calgary 5000 m relay 26 2012 13 nbsp Shanghai 1000 m 27 2013 14 nbsp Seoul 1000 m 28 2013 14 nbsp Turin 500 m 29 2013 14 nbsp Turin 1000 m 30 2013 14 nbsp Turin 5000 m relay 31 2013 14 nbsp Kolomna 1500 m 32 2013 14 nbsp Kolomna 5000 m relay 33 2014 15 nbsp Erzurum 1000 m 34 2016 17 nbsp Minsk 5000 m relay 35 2019 20 nbsp Salt Lake City 500 m 36 2019 20 nbsp Salt Lake City 1000 m 37 2019 20 nbsp Shanghai 2000 m mixed relay 25 Bronze medals nbsp edit Bronze medals No Competition Location Event 1 2002 03 nbsp Saint Petersburg Overall 2 2002 03 nbsp Saint Petersburg 5000 m relay 3 2003 04 nbsp Calgary Overall 4 2003 04 nbsp Calgary 1000 m 5 2003 04 nbsp Calgary 3000 m S F 6 2003 04 nbsp Calgary 5000 m relay 7 2003 04 nbsp Jeonju Overall 8 2003 04 nbsp Jeonju 5000 m relay 9 2003 04 nbsp Beijing 5000 m relay 10 2004 05 nbsp Spisska Nova Ves Overall 11 2005 06 nbsp Seoul 1000 m 12 2005 06 nbsp Bormio Overall 13 2005 06 nbsp Bormio 3000 m S F 14 2005 06 nbsp Hague 1000 m 15 2006 07 nbsp Jeonju 1000 m 16 2006 07 nbsp Jeonju 5000 m relay 17 2007 08 nbsp Heerenveen 1500 m 18 2012 13 nbsp Dresden 1000 m 19 2012 13 nbsp Dresden 1500 m 20 2012 13 nbsp Dresden 5000 m relay 21 2013 14 nbsp Shanghai 1500 m 22 2013 14 nbsp Seoul 1500 m 23 2014 15 nbsp Erzurum 1500 m 24 2016 17 nbsp Calgary 500 m 25 2016 17 nbsp Shanghai 500 m National competitions edit nbsp South Korea National Competitions 1996 2011 238 Date Competition Rank Event Myongji Primary School 16 Feb 1996 1996 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1500 m 09 10 Apr 1996 1996 National Student Short Track Championships 239 nbsp 500 m 09 10 Apr 1996 1996 National Student Short Track Championships nbsp 1500 m 09 10 Apr 1996 1996 National Student Short Track Championships nbsp Overall 03 Feb 1997 1997 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1000 m 26 Feb 1998 1998 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1500 m 28 Feb 1998 1998 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 2000 m Myongji Middle School 12 Feb 1999 1999 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1000 m 12 Feb 1999 1999 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 3000 m 16 Feb 2000 2000 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 3000 m 22 Feb 2001 2001 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 500 m 23 Feb 2001 2001 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1000 m Shinmok High School 18 Apr 2002 2002 03 National Short Track Championships 240 nbsp 1500 m 1 Apr 2003 2003 04 National Short Track Championshipsn 241 nbsp 1500 m 1 Apr 2003 2003 04 National Short Track Championships nbsp 500 m 2 Apr 2003 2003 04 National Short Track Championships nbsp 3000 m 2 Apr 2003 2003 04 National Short Track Championships 242 nbsp Overall Korea National Sports University 9 Sep 2005 2005 06 National Short Track Championships 35 nbsp 1500 m 9 Sep 2005 2005 06 National Short Track Championships nbsp 500 m 9 Sep 2005 2005 06 National Short Track Championships nbsp Overall 15 Apr 2006 2006 07 National Short Track Championships 243 nbsp 1500 m 16 Apr 2006 2006 07 National Short Track Championships nbsp 3000 m 16 Apr 2006 2006 07 National Short Track Championships 244 nbsp Overall 27 Sep 2006 2006 07 National Short Track Championships nbsp 1000 m 27 Sep 2006 2006 07 National Short Track Championships 245 nbsp Overall 5 Jan 2007 2007 Korea Industrial Skating Federation President s Cup 246 nbsp 500 m 6 Jan 2007 2007 Korea Industrial Skating Federation President s Cup nbsp 1000 m 22 Feb 2007 2007 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1500 m 22 Feb 2007 2007 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1000 m 24 Feb 2007 2007 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 3000 m relay Seongnam Local Government Team 18 Oct 2009 2009 Korea Industrial Skating Federation President s Cup 247 nbsp 3000 m relay 22 Feb 2010 2010 Korean National Winter Sports Festival 239 248 nbsp 1500 m 02 Feb 2010 2010 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 3000 m 02 Feb 2010 2010 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 5000 m relay no Team 9 14 Feb 2011 2011 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 1500 m 14 Feb 2011 2011 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 3000 m 16 Feb 2011 2011 Korean National Winter Sports Festival nbsp 5000 m relay 25 Mar 2011 2011 12 National Short Track Championships nbsp 1500 m 26 Mar 2011 2011 12 National Short Track Championships nbsp 500 m 26 Mar 2011 2011 12 National Short Track Championships 249 nbsp 1000 m 27 Mar 2011 2011 12 National Short Track Championships nbsp 3000 m 6 Apr 2011 2011 12 National Short Track Championships 96 nbsp 500 m nbsp Russia National Competitions 2012 2019 CSKA Moscow 21 23 Mar 2012 2012 National Championships Kolomna 107 nbsp 1000 m 21 23 Mar 2012 2012 National Championships Kolomna 250 nbsp 1500 m 21 23 Mar 2012 2012 National Championships Kolomna 107 nbsp 3000 m 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk 251 nbsp 500 m 1 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk nbsp 500 m 2 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk 252 nbsp 1000 m 2 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk 253 nbsp 1500 m 1 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk 254 nbsp 1500 m 2 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk 255 nbsp 5000 m relay 27 30 Sep 2012 2012 National Championships Novogorsk 256 nbsp Overall 19 21 Dec 2012 2012 National Championships Sochi nbsp 1000 m 19 21 Dec 2012 2012 National Championships Sochi nbsp 1500 m 19 21 Dec 2012 2012 National Championships Sochi nbsp 3000 m 19 21 Dec 2012 2012 National Championships Sochi 257 nbsp Overall 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna 258 nbsp 500 m 1 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna 259 nbsp 500 m 2 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna 260 nbsp 1000 m 1 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna 261 nbsp 1000 m 2 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna 262 nbsp 1500 m 1 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna nbsp 1500 m 2 16 18 Oct 2014 2014 National League Russia Cup Kolomna 263 264 nbsp Overall 27 29 Dec 2014 2014 National Championships Kolomna 265 nbsp 1000 m 27 29 Dec 2014 2014 National Championships Kolomna 266 nbsp 1500 m 27 29 Dec 2014 2014 National Championships Kolomna 267 nbsp 3000 m 27 29 Dec 2014 2014 National Championships Kolomna span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library, article , read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games. © Copyright 2021, All Rights Reserved  |   www.wiki3.en-us.nina.az Rss Feed SiteMap Ping DMCA Contact Us HomePage Closed Call: