Han Pil-hwa (; born 21 January 1942 in

Nampho Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is the second largest city by population and an important seaport in North Korea, which lies on the northern shore of the Taedong River, 15 km east of the river's mouth. ...

, South Pyongan) is a female

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

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. ...

who competed in the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

and in the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

. She was the first woman to represent North Korea at the Olympics.

Speed skating

In 1964 she won the silver medal in the 3000 meter event and she became the first Winter Olympic medalist from either Koreas. In the 1500 meter competition she finished ninth and in the 500 meter contest she finished 28th. Eight years later she finished ninth in the 3000 metres event, eleventh in the 1000 metres competition, and 13th in the 1500 metres contest. Between 1963 and 1968 Han Pil-hwa was also a regular competitor at the

World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial championships were held in the years 1933–1935. History Distances used * In the years 1933–1935, three distances were ...

. In the 1965 championships in Oulu she was most successful with fifth place in the allround event. Her best single distance result was a third place in the 3000 meters at the 1966 championships in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Records

Over the course of her career, Han Pil-hwa posted the following best results:

Season best performances

Over the seasons, Han Pil-hwa skated the following best results:

Politics

After her career in sports, Han has held various offices in politics and sports administration. She became the chief secretary of the

Speed Skating Association In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantit ...

February 1986. She has also been deputy director general of the Guidance Bureau for Winter Sports of the

National Sports Committee National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, head of the Technical Guidance Office for Winter Sports of the National Sports Committee, vice-chairwoman of the

Korea Ice Skating Association Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...

, and vice-chairwoman of the

Athletic Technique Union Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...

. Han is a member of the North Korean headquarter of the since January 1991. She was elected to the country's parliament in 1998.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

*
Skater business card of Pil Hwa Han on www.speedskatingnews.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Pil-hwa 1942 births Living people North Korean female speed skaters People from South Pyongan Olympic speed skaters of North Korea Speed skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for North Korea Olympic medalists in speed skating Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics 21st-century North Korean women politicians 21st-century North Korean politicians Sportsperson-politicians 20th-century North Korean women politicians 20th-century North Korean politicians