Viktor An

Ahn Hyun-Soo
Viktor Ahn

Personal information
Born	(1985-11-23) November 23, 1985 Seoul, South Korea
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	63 kg (139 lb; 9.9 st)
Sport
Country	Russia
Sport	Speed skating
Achievements and titles
World finals	World Championship 2007 Overall 2006 Overall 2005 Overall 2004 Overall 2003 Overall World Cup 2006 Overall 2004 Overall
Personal best(s)	500 m: 41.677 (2006) 1000 m: 1:24.385 (2007, Former WR) 1500 m: 2:10.639 (2003, Former WR) 3000 m: 4:32.646 (2003, Former WR)
Medal record Men's short track speed skating Representing South Korea Olympic Games 2006 Turin 1000 m 2006 Turin 1500 m 2006 Turin 5000 m relay 2006 Turin 500 m World Championships 2007 Milan Overall 2007 Milan 1000 m 2007 Milan 5000 m relay 2006 Minneapolis Overall 2006 Minneapolis 1000 m 2006 Minneapolis 1500 m 2005 Beijing Overall 2005 Beijing 1500 m 2004 Gothenburg Overall 2004 Gothenburg 1000 m 2004 Gothenburg 1500 m 2004 Gothenburg 3000 m 2004 Gothenburg 5000 m relay 2003 Warsaw Overall 2003 Warsaw 1500 m 2003 Warsaw 3000 m 2003 Warsaw 5000 m relay 2002 Montreal 5000 m relay 2006 Montréal Team 2004 St. Petersburg Team 2007 Milan 3000 m 2005 Beijing 1000 m 2005 Beijing 3000 m 2005 Beijing 5000 m relay 2003 Warsaw 1000 m 2002 Montreal Overall 2002 Montreal 1000 m 2002 Montreal 3000 m 2007 Budapest Team 2005 Chuncheon Team 2003 Sofia Team 2007 Milan 500 m 2007 Milan 1500 m 2005 Beijing 500 m 2002 Milwaukee Team World Junior Championships 2002 Chuncheon Overall 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

Korean name
Hangul	안현수
Hanja	安賢洙
Revised Romanization	An Hyeonsu
McCune–Reischauer	An Hyŏnsu

Template:Korean name Ahn Hyun-Soo (Hangul: 안현수; born November 23, 1985 in Seoul) or Viktor Ahn (Russian: Виктор Ан) is a Russian Short track speed skating athlete from South Korea. One of the most accomplished Short Track Speed Skaters of all time, Ahn won three gold medals and a bronze medal in 2006 Winter Olympics held in Turin, Italy, becoming the most successful athlete there. He is also a five-time Overall World Champion for 2003–2007.

Early life

Ahn first began skating in elementary 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. His coach, Kim Ki-Hoon, was a three-time Olympic gold medalist who scouted Ahn and continues to train him. He trains ten hours every day from techniques, speed, and endurance to video analysis.

Career

Olympic history

He participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, making the finals of the 1000 meter short course event but returned home without a medal after a controversial fall involving Apolo Ohno, Li Jiajun and Mathieu Turcotte allowed Australian Steve Bradbury to sweep the gold medal.

In 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 (이호석), Seo Ho-Jin, and Song Suk-Woo. He became the second Korean athlete ever to win three gold medals in one Olympics. (Jin Sun-Yu (진선유) accomplished this earlier on the same day.) He also won a bronze medal in the 500 m event.

Rarely taking the lead position throughout the entire race, Ahn's strategy is to follow the leaders, then sprint using an outside passing lane (or occasionally an inside passing lane if the opportunity arises) with only two or three laps to go. In the 5000 m relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Ahn made a brilliant pass around defending Olympic champion Canada on the final lap, helping Korea earn the victory. Sports commentators often refer to his "patented outside pass" due to its consistency and tremendous effectiveness.

Ahn Hyun Soo won a total of 4 medals in the 2006 Games, an unprecedented result by any athlete in his sport. He is the first Korean man to win at least 3 medals in a single Winter Olympics.

Other accomplishments

Ahn won the world junior short track championship in 2002, and finished second to Kim Dong-Sung at his first senior-level world championship competition the same year. He is the first male skater to achieve such feat. Despite being disqualified in the finals of the 500 m and 3000 m events at the 2006 World Championships in Minneapolis, Ahn was able to claim the championship with victories in both the 1000 m and 1500 m events and became the overall world champion with 68 points followed by countryman Lee Ho-Suk with 60 points.

Ahn is the only male short track skater to have won at least three consecutive world championships (having won five in a row); Canadian short track legend Marc Gagnon has won four times, but his titles did not come back to back.

Ahn Hyun Soo finished first in the overall World Cup rankings during 2003–2004 and 2005–2006 seasons. He is also the current world record holder for 1500 m event.

At the World Championships held in Milan, Italy from March 9 to March 11, 2007, Ahn won his fifth world championship, finishing first in the 1000 m and in the 5000 m relay with teammates, Sung Si-Bak, Song Kyung-Taek, and Kim Hyun-Kon. He also won silver in the 3000 m behind countryman, Song Kyung-Taek, and won two bronze medals in the 500 m and the 1500 m. He is the first man to win five world championships.

Conflict

After the 2006 World Championships, Ahn flew back to Korea. At the Incheon International Airport, Ahn's father, Ahn Ki-Won, slapped the vice president of the Korean Skating Union (KSU), claiming that the coach that did not associate with Ahn and conspired with other skaters to prevent Ahn from winning the title of the overall champion.

The Korean short track team was split into two groups in which Ahn is coached by the women's coach due to conflicts with the men's coach. The tensions have risen so high that the skaters have 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 last year in skating camps, but now rarely talk to each other.

Ahn has mentioned on his personal website that the pressure is too much for him and he has thought of quitting the sport. Due to the issue, KSU has claimed that starting next season, the team will be united under one head coach to prevent deleterious rivalries.

Early 2008 season injury

On January 16, 2008, the Korean Speedskating Union (KSU) announced 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.

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 Gangeung 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.

After eight months off the ice, a 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 is eying the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC.

Because of his injury, Ahn did not compete in the 2009 World Championships in Vienna, Austria which took place March 6–8.

2010 Olympics

During the Korean National Team Trials, which ultimately determine the Fall World Cup and Olympic Teams, Ahn was unable to qualify, finishing 7th in overall points (because Ahn didn't compete in the last two World Cup seasons, he needed to finish in the top three in overall points to qualify). Due to his inability to qualify, he did not compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC. Despite this, Ahn hopes to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, which will most likely be his last games.

Russian citizenship

Ahn has been training in Russia and has received Russian citizenship to compete for Russia in the 2014 Olympics. Ahn claimed that the decision was due to lack of support from the South Korean skating association.

See also

• South Korea at the 2006 Winter Olympics