Lee Sang-Hwa completed a South Korean double by taking gold in the women's 500 metres speedskating, winning a shock victory over hot favourite Jenny Wolf of Germany.
Lee, leading after her first run, notched a combined time of 76.09sec for her two races (38.24 and 37.85), just 0.05sec ahead of Wolf. China's Wang Beixing took the bronze in 76.63sec.
The win for the 20-year-old, who has not won a single race in this year's World Cup, comes after South Korea claimed their first ever Winter Olympic gold outside short-track on Monday through Mo Tae-Bum in the men's 500m.
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Lee was last to go in her second run at Richmond Olympic Oval paired with Wolf, the three-time reigning world champion and world record-holder, and did just enough to hold off the German.
Lee, who turns 21 this month, was fifth at the Turin Games and third at the worlds last year. She is currently third in the World Cup standings.
The South Korean said: "The feeling has not sunk in yet. I cannot believe I have won the medal. I am very emotional and I feel like I am going to cry."
"Jenny Wolf is a very fast skater. But I remained calm and did my best in this race," she added.
When asked about her reaction to Mo's win on Monday, she said: "I really was happy for him but I was also very nervous so I did not sleep very well last night."
Wolf said she was disappointed to miss out on gold as she felt her form was returning in the run-up to the Games but was proud to get on the podium.
"Winning an Olympic medal is something you dream (of) when you are a child," she added, saying a false start on her first run had made her nervous.
She also said she had been unhappy with the ice at the Oval but added that all the athletes faced the same conditions.
Organisers have had problems with their ice-resurfacing machines and brought in a new one from Calgary overnight.
Bronze medallist Wang said: "This my first time standing on an Olympic podium. I am very glad."
South Korea came into the Games with a rich tradition of success in short-track but not a single gold outside that sport.
Lee's win Tuesday lifted the nation to second in the overall medals table. South Korea also took silver in the men's 5,000m speedskating through Lee Seung-Hoon and gold in the men's 1,500m short-track through Lee Jung-Su.
Wolf, who missed out a medal in 2006, has dominated the sport since, winning the past four World Cups and leading the standings this year but she could not find the extra few hundredths of a second needed to realise her Olympic dream.
Underlining Asia's strength in speedskating, six of the top ten were from the continent including Japan's Sayuri Yoshii in fifth place and the Chinese pair of Zhang Shuang and Jin Peiyu in seventh and eighth positions.
