SEOUL, Back in her old, familiar boots, South Korean speed skater Kim Min-sun has now captured her second consecutive international victory.

Kim won the first of two women's 500-meter races at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Speed Skating at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, on Friday (local time), with a time of 37.82 seconds. Femke Kok of the Netherlands took second place in 37.95 seconds, followed by Andzelika Wojcik of Poland in 38.16 seconds.

In this EPA photo, Kim Min-sun of South Korea (C) poses with the other medalists after winning the gold medal in the women's 500-meter race at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Speed Skating at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, on Dec. 8, 2023. Kim is flanked by Femke Kok of the Netherlands (L), who won silver, and Andzelika Wojcik of Poland, the bronze medalist. (Yonhap)

The second 500m race is scheduled for Saturday.

This was Kim's second straight World Cup victory, following her first title of the season in Norway last Sunday.

It was in Norway that Kim decided to go back to wearing her old pair of boots. She opened the season wearing a new pair, looking to push herself for the long haul with an eye on the 2026 Winter Olympics. Across her four 500m races at the first two World Cup stops of this season, Kim managed just one silver and one bronze medal, while breaking 38 seconds only once.

Then in Norway, Kim clocked her season-best 37.73 seconds and stayed under 38 seconds for her latest win in Poland.

Kim had said after her Norway win that she would stick to her old boots for now and may try the new boots again next season.

Kim only had the sixth-fastest split over the first 100m at 10.54 seconds but a blistering 27.28 seconds over the final 400m for the win.

In the overall World Cup standings, Kim now sits in second place with 298 points, 16 behind Erin Jackson of the United States. Each race victory is worth 60 points, while a silver medal and a bronze medal are good for 54 points and 48 points, respectively.

Jackson was the runner-up to Kim in Norway and finished in fourth place in Poland this time.

Also on Friday in Poland, South Korea's Chung Jae-won took silver in the men's mass start for his first World Cup medal of the season. Chung came home in 7:32.35, 0.11 second behind the winner, Andrea Giovannini of Italy.

Source: Yonhap News Agency