"I Watched Lee Sanghwa's Races Hundreds of Times"... New 500m World Record Set at Same Venue After 12 Years

The Longest-Standing Record Even Among Men's Events
Femke Kok, Who Broke the Record: "I've Watched Lee Sanghwa's Races Hundreds of Times"

Dutch speed skater Femke Kok has broken the women's 500m world record set by the "Empress of Speed Skating," Lee Sanghwa (now retired), after 12 years. After setting the new record, Kok expressed her respect by saying, "I have watched her (Lee Sanghwa's) races hundreds of times." On the 18th, Yonhap News reported that Kok crossed the finish line with a time of 36.09 seconds in the second race of the women's 500m at the first event of the 2025-2026 International Skating Union (ISU) Speed Skating World Cup, held at the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Dutch speed skater Femke Kok. Photo by AP

The record set by Kok on this day surpassed Lee Sanghwa's 36.36 seconds, which was set at the second event of the 2013-2014 ISU World Cup at the Utah Olympic Oval on November 17, 2013, by 0.27 seconds. Lee Sanghwa's record was a new world record in the women's 500m, and Kok has rewritten history exactly 12 years later. Lee Sanghwa's 36.36 seconds in the women's 500m had stood as the longest-standing world record among official Olympic speed skating events. Over the years, the world of speed skating has seen numerous world records thanks to advancements in skating techniques, training methods, technology, and equipment, but Lee Sanghwa's record remained unbroken for a long time.

There are 14 official Olympic speed skating events: men's and women's 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, team pursuit, mass start, women's 3000m, and men's 10000m. Among these, the men's and women's mass start events determine rankings by points. Since 2019, the world records for the women's 1000m (1:11.61 by Brittany Bowe, USA, March 2019), 1500m (1:49.83 by Miho Takagi, Japan, March 2019), 3000m (3:52.02 by Martina Sablikova, Czech Republic, March 2019), 5000m (6:39.02 by Natalya Voronina, Russia, February 2020), and team pursuit (2:50.76 by Japan, February 2020) have all been set. Even when including men's events, Lee Sanghwa's record was the oldest. The oldest men's Olympic event world record is the men's 5000m, set by Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada in December 2017 (6:01.86).

In an interview with Dutch media outlet NRC on this day, Kok said, "I really have watched her (Lee Sanghwa's) races hundreds of times," and added, "I always wondered, 'How can someone skate that fast?'" She continued, "I always thought it would be a dream just to get close to Lee Sanghwa's record. But now, I am the fastest in the world. My dream has come true," she said with a smile. On the same day, the official ISU social media account praised Kok as the "Queen of the 500m" and celebrated her new world record.

Speed Skating National Team Member Lee Sanghwa. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Previously, Lee Sanghwa set the world record in the 500m four times in 2013 alone. In January of that year, she broke the previous record of 36.94 seconds held by Yu Jing of China with a time of 36.80 seconds. Then, in November, she successively set new records of 36.74, 36.57, and 36.36 seconds.