South Korean Lee Sang Hwa won Asia's first gold medal at the Sochi Olympic Games as she claimed the women's 500m speed skating event on Tuesday.

The world record holder and defending champion totaled 74.70 seconds from two runs, beating Russian Olga Fatkulina into second place by 0.36.

Margot Boer from the Netherlands took the bronze in 75.48, 0.1 ahead of fourth-placed Chinese Zhang Hong.

China's top sprinter Wang Beixing, bronze medallist at the Vancouver, only managed a seventh finish.

"I was very surprised that there have been no medals for the Korean men. Of course I thought of everyone and this made me even more determined to get the gold medal for Korea," said Lee, 24, who dominated the whole race.

Lee is only the third woman to become a repeat Olympic speed skating champion in the 500m, after Bonnie Blair of the United States and Catriona Le May Doan of Canada.

Lee set her first world record in January 2013 and broke her own mark three times in November. She swept all seven World Cup 500m races she has entered this season.

Zhang, runner-up of the World Sprint Championships at Nagano, Japan in January, was third in the first 500m but was outraced in the second.

"I am happy, as it is my personal best," said Zhang. "I was half a second faster than my previous fastest race in the Netherlands and that's already a big surprise."

Wang was disappointed with her result.

"I am very sad today," said Wang. "The field was strong, but I thought I had a fighting chance. I fell three times in my training in the last two weeks so I was affected by that."

Wang will also take part in the women's 1,000m on Thursday.