Putin presents medal to 3-time Olympic champion Victor Ahn

Russia's President Vladimir Putin presented the Order for Merit 4 Degrees to South Korean-born, three-time Olympic short track speed skating champion Victor Ahn during the awards ceremony for Russian winners of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Monday (local time), according to Russian media.

Ahn, who became a naturalized Russian in 2011, won the gold medal in the men's 500-meter and 1,000-meter events, and the men's 5,000-meter relay. He also won the bronze in the men’s 1,500-meter event.

Ahn was born in Seoul in 1985 with his Korean name Ahn Hyun-soo.

Also awarded by Putin included snow boarder Vic Wild, winner of the gold medal in the men's snowboard parallel slalom, and Tatiana Volosozhar who, with Maxim Trankov, is the two times 2014 Olympic champion in the pairs and in team events.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com