BEIJING-- By the time he had finished his turn in the men's 1,000m speed skating race in Beijing on Friday, Cha Min-kyu was already out of medal position.

There were 10 skaters still to come at the National Speed Skating Oval, and Cha didn't have to stay to see where he would ultimately finish. But he did anyway.

"The skaters behind me were all posting great times," Cha said after finishing in 18th place at 1:09.69. "I felt motivated just by watching them race."

Cha had the fourth-fastest split time in his first 200m but quickly lost his steam.

"I wanted a better record than this in the 1,000m," Cha said. "Even in the middle of the race, I was thinking to myself, 'This is going to be bad.' And then once I saw the time posted on the board, I was really disappointed."

Disappointing final race in Beijing notwithstanding, Cha still had a successful second Winter Games here. He won his second straight silver medal in the 500m, one of only two speed skating medals for South Korea so far with one more day left at the oval.

Asked if he had any positive takeaway from Beijing, Cha said: "I've learned a lot about what I need to work on. I need to get stronger and more durable, and I will try to go faster on the straightaway."

With two silver medals in his bags now, Cha said he wants to aim higher the next time out.

"Obviously, I am setting my sight on a gold medal," Cha said. "I am happy that I was able to prove my silver from 2018 wasn't a fluke. And now I will go for a gold medal."

Source: Yonhap News Agency