Korean speed skater Mo enjoys birthday with Olympic gold
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To earn an Olympic gold medal on the birthday is not an easy thing. Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea was the luckiest man in the world on Monday.
Mo celebrated his 21-year birthday with a surprising victory in the men's 500m speed skating at the Olympic Winter Games here on Monday.
He became the fourth Olympic champion in an individual event to win a gold on the birthday and the first since Jan Egil Storholt of Norway in 1976.
Ranked 14th of the season in the ISU ranking, Mo showed his resistance and calmness against chaos of the broken ice making machines and a one-hour delay at the Richmond Olympic Oval, lifted the crown in 69.82 seconds.
Mo thus won the first gold for his country which was also South Korea's first gold medal outside short track in the Winter Olympic history.
"I absolutely did not expect it. I dreamt it, imagined it but I didn't expect it at all. It's my best birthday present and it's my present to Koreans," Mo said.
"I can't feel anything yet. I raced a lot better than expected in the first race. So it gave me courage to do better in the second race. My coaches helped me figure out how to strategies after the delay of the event. So that did not affect me," Mo added.
As a lucky guy winning the Olympic gold on his birthday, Mo said he will call his parents and tell them he did it.
Mo revealed he likes dangerous stuff when he is out of training. "I like cars, motorcycles. I like scary things and dares. I am a student who enjoys these things."
With the gold, Mo believed he is more confident in the upcoming 1,000m event.
"Since I've done the 500 m, I now feel more confident going into other races, and I told my teammate Lee Seung-Hoon that I am confident for the other events," Mo said.
