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Injured speed skating star Lee Sang-hwa will skip her next international race in January to better prepare for the world championships the following month, her agency said Monday.
An official at Brion Company said Lee will sit out the remainder of the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Speed Skating season with a leg injury. Her focus is now on defending her title as women's 500m champion at the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships at home in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, in February.
Lee has competed in four World Cup races this season. The next stop is in Berlin in January, followed by the finale in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in March.
"Lee Sang-hwa's ultimate goal this season is to win the single distance title," the official said. "She doesn't have to force herself to compete at World Cup races."
Lee has won two silvers and one bronze in the 500m at the World Cups. This will be the first World Cup season since 2009-2010 in which Lee has failed to win a gold in her signature event. The 27-year-old is the two-time reigning Olympic champion and the world record holder in the 500m.
Lee started suffering from right calf pain at the first World Cup in Harbin, China, last month. She was diagnosed with minor damage to her muscle, and has been undergoing treatment since returning home last Tuesday.
(Yonhap)
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