Choi Jae-bong (; born 19 June 1980) is a South Korean

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. He represented his country at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

. At that time he was the holder of the junior World record at 1500 m, set in early December 1997 in

Thialf Thialf is an ice arena in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Thialf consists of the Thialf-hal (a 12,500-capacity speed skating venue) and the Elfstedenhal (a 2,500-capacity ice hockey venue). Thialf is used for long track speed skating, short track spee ...

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

, where he clocked 1:52.25 to break the record. In Nagano where he finished in 12th position he broke his own world junior record to a new best time of 1:51.47, which was 0.78 of a second faster. He also finished in 29th position at the 5000 m. In November 1998 he broke the junior world record over 500 m into a new time of 36.30 in Calgary and a day later he broke his own 1500 m record again, this time 1:49.71 was his new best time. Due to these records and some other decent results in that same weekend he also broke the junior world record for the small allround classification to 153.689 points. That same season he won the bronze medal at the World Junior Allround Championships and broke another two world records. He set 1:10.87 at the 1000 m in February 1999 and a total of 143.965 points for the sprint classification again in Calgary. As a senior, during his second

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

he finished 17th at the 500 m, 12th at the 1000 m and 21st at the 1500 m. He also represented South Korea four years later during the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

he finished in his all-time best Olympic result, by becoming 8th at the 500 m. He also became 17th at the 1000 m.

Personal records

* 500 m – 35.12, 12 February 2002,

* 1000 m – 1:08.81, 16 February 2002,

* 1500 m – 1:47.26, 19 February 2002,

* 3000 m – 3:55.29, 15 November 1997, Calgary * 5000 m – 6:49.61, 7 December 1997,

* 10000 m – 15:11.81, 23 February 1996,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

External links

sskating.comChoi Jae-bong at SpeedSkatingStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Jae-Bong Living people 1980 births South Korean male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for South Korea Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Dankook University alumni Asian Games medalists in speed skating Speed skaters at the 1996 Asian Winter Games Speed skaters at the 1999 Asian Winter Games Speed skaters at the 2003 Asian Winter Games Speed skaters at the 2007 Asian Winter Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1999 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2007 Asian Winter Games