The Korean men’s and women’s speed skating squads that are heading to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics will be the largest ever.

The Korea Skating Union said on December 15 that the men’s and women’s Olympic team secured a quota of a total of 16 (eight men, eight women) at the 2009-2010 International Skating Union’s (ISU) speed skating World Cup series, which were preliminary events for the Winter Olympic Games. During the five World Cup meets, Lee Kyuhyuk and Lee Sangwha performed well in the short distance event, while Lee Seung Hoon shattered numerous Korean records in the long distance.

Until this year’s addition of a female teammate, the largest the Korean Olympic squad has ever been was during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, which at that time was composed of eight men and seven women.