New Zealand's top speed skater, Blake Skjellerup, will be tested by the top Korean skaters during the Winter Games at the weekend.
The speed skating competition starts at the Dunedin Ice Stadium today and continues tomorrow.
Skjellerup (26) first represented New Zealand at the junior world championships at age 16 and has been a member of the senior team for the past decade.
He finished 16th at the Vancouver Winter Olympics last year and his best international performance was 10th at the World Cup in Beijing in 2009.
Skjellerup is based in Canada and trains at the Olympic International Centre in Calgary.
Korea is the top speed skating nation in the world and has brought skaters ranked from sixth to 10 in its own country to the Winter Games.
The Korean skaters in the senior men's competition are Yi-Ra Seo, Tae-Hoon Kim and Dong-Hwan Lee.
The second-best skater in the New Zealand team is Jamie Sutton, who is based in Melbourne, while Bradley Tuhi completes the team.
Five countries are competing at the Winter Games. Malaysia and Singapore are competing internationally for the first time, while Australia has sent a strong team. Its best male skaters are Grant Hester, Ronnie Caldecutt and Pierre Boda.
Speed skating was not included in the Winter Games programme two years ago.
"It is an inspiration for our sport to be here. We will be back next time," the chief executive of Ice Speed Skating New Zealand, Pam Gray, said.
Skjellerup demonstrated his dominance when he won his fourth New Zealand senior men's title in Dunedin yesterday. He was a convincing winner of all four disciplines - 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 3000m - that make up the championship title. Sutton was second and Tuhi third.
Emma Coxon-Smith (Australia) won both the senior women's and the intermediate women's titles. In the intermediate event she was followed by Malaysian Anja Chong and Jia Yi Chew. Chris Jarden (Christchurch) won the intermediate men's title.
Zak Biggs (Auckland) won the junior men's title from Mark McCormack (Dunedin). Caitlin Phillips (Christchurch) won the junior girls' title.
