Mo Tae-bum

Mo Tae-bum is a South Korean speed skater who became the first Korean to win an Olympic gold medal in a long-track event, taking the 500m title at the 2010 Vancouver Games on his 21st birthday.

Mo Tae-bum won the 500-meter gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics on his 21st birthday, becoming the first Korean athlete in history to claim an Olympic gold medal in a long-track speed skating event. He won two gold medals at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Erfurt, in the 500m and 1500m, though he remained largely unknown internationally heading into his senior career. Mo delivered a career-defining performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, winning the 500m title on his 21st birthday to become the first Korean athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal in a long-track speed skating event, and adding a silver medal in the 1000m, making him the first South Korean to win two medals in a non-short-track event at a single Games. Mo went on to win consecutive World Single Distance Championship titles in the 500m in both 2012 and 2013, adding a 1000m silver at the 2013 championships in Sochi, and won silver and bronze medals at the World Sprint Championships in 2011 and 2012 respectively. A close friend of fellow speed skater Lee Seung-hoon since their school days, Mo remained one of South Korea's leading sprint specialists throughout his career, based in Pocheon, Gyeonggi province.

Powerful sprint specialist excelling in the 500m and 1000m distances

A pioneering figure who helped establish South Korea as a force beyond short track speed skating, on the long-track sprint stage

• Olympic gold, 500m (2010), first Korean long-track Olympic champion
• Olympic silver, 1000m (2010)
• 2x World Champion, 500m (2012, 2013)
• 2x World Junior Champion (2006, 500m and 1500m)