Ahn Hyun-Soo
Ahn Hyun-Soo, born 1985 in Seoul in South Korea.started short-track at age eight, inspired by countryman Chae Ji-Hoon, who captured a gold and a silver medal at the 1994 Olympic games.
At 5 feet 4 inches (1.64 metres) and 120 pounds (54 kg), Ahn was perfectly built for the fast speeds and tight corners of short track.Ahn began skating in 1993 in his first year of primary school. |
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
In 2002 he won the overall world junior championships and finished second at the senior world championships
Ahn began dominating the sport from the 2002–2003 season.
In 2002 he won the overall world junior championships and finished second at the senior world championships
Ahn began dominating the sport from the 2002–2003 season.
Between 2003 and 2006 he won four All round World Championship titles in a row , Ahn excelled himself at 1000 m and 3000 m during that period and won a total of 23 medals in that prolific spell,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 was also the first South Korean man to win at least 3 medals in a single Winter Olympics. |
Conflict
After the 2006 World <campionships, Ahn's father had a quarrel with the vice president of the Korean 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. The South Korean short track team was split into two groups, in one of which Ahn was being coached by the women's coach due to conflicts with the men's coach. 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.
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
Injured and a new career
In 2008, the Korean 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. After being sent to the hospital, the injury was diagnosed as a fractured knee.
After some operation he started to skate again in 2009 but was not as good as before and was not selected for the national for the world championships and the Olympic Games
To keep his career alive, he looked for any country that would have him.
The U.S. tried to recrute him, but ultimately Ahn picked Russia because they paid well and he was virtually assured a spot in the Olympics considering the dearth of world-class Russian skaters.
He had to renounce his Korean citizenship to become a naturalized Russian citizen. He changed his name in Victor Ahn with the following arguments:
"First of all, the name Viktor is associated with the word ‘victory’. It’s symbolic, as I want this name to bring me luck. Secondly, I know of another Korean named Viktor, who is very popular in Russia and is well-known in Korea — Viktor Tsoy. I want to be as famous in Russia as he was. And third, I was told that Viktor is a name, which is easy to remember for Russian-speakers."
A new start
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 He participated in the Russian national team trials for the 2011–2012 season and was selected as a relay member for the season.
In the national trials for the 2012–2013 season, Ahn won the 1000 m and 3000 m events 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. He also contributed to Russia's first-ever relay gold at World Cup.
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.
On February 21, Ahn won his seventh overall and his fifth Winter Olympic gold medal when he finished first in the 500 m men's final. 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. 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
In the 2014 World All round Championships, held a month after the Olympics, Ahn grabbed his sixth world title. He became the only man to win six world championships in this sport.
After that Ahn continued to win medals at the World and European championships for Russia.
Although Ahn had planned to retire after participating the 2018 Winter Olympics in his native South Korea, he missed out the Olympics in the wake of the alleged sports doping in Russia Ahn, who had never tested positive for drugs, challenged the decision writing an open letter to IOC President 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.
After stepping off the ice, Ahn starred in the South Korean variety-reality show Real Man 300. He was also noticed working as a player-coach at the Korea National Sport University.
After the 2006 World <campionships, Ahn's father had a quarrel with the vice president of the Korean 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. The South Korean short track team was split into two groups, in one of which Ahn was being coached by the women's coach due to conflicts with the men's coach. 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.
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
Injured and a new career
In 2008, the Korean 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. After being sent to the hospital, the injury was diagnosed as a fractured knee.
After some operation he started to skate again in 2009 but was not as good as before and was not selected for the national for the world championships and the Olympic Games
To keep his career alive, he looked for any country that would have him.
The U.S. tried to recrute him, but ultimately Ahn picked Russia because they paid well and he was virtually assured a spot in the Olympics considering the dearth of world-class Russian skaters.
He had to renounce his Korean citizenship to become a naturalized Russian citizen. He changed his name in Victor Ahn with the following arguments:
"First of all, the name Viktor is associated with the word ‘victory’. It’s symbolic, as I want this name to bring me luck. Secondly, I know of another Korean named Viktor, who is very popular in Russia and is well-known in Korea — Viktor Tsoy. I want to be as famous in Russia as he was. And third, I was told that Viktor is a name, which is easy to remember for Russian-speakers."
A new start
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 He participated in the Russian national team trials for the 2011–2012 season and was selected as a relay member for the season.
In the national trials for the 2012–2013 season, Ahn won the 1000 m and 3000 m events 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. He also contributed to Russia's first-ever relay gold at World Cup.
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.
On February 21, Ahn won his seventh overall and his fifth Winter Olympic gold medal when he finished first in the 500 m men's final. 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. 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
In the 2014 World All round Championships, held a month after the Olympics, Ahn grabbed his sixth world title. He became the only man to win six world championships in this sport.
After that Ahn continued to win medals at the World and European championships for Russia.
Although Ahn had planned to retire after participating the 2018 Winter Olympics in his native South Korea, he missed out the Olympics in the wake of the alleged sports doping in Russia Ahn, who had never tested positive for drugs, challenged the decision writing an open letter to IOC President 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.
After stepping off the ice, Ahn starred in the South Korean variety-reality show Real Man 300. He was also noticed working as a player-coach at the Korea National Sport University.