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| APYonhap News |
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| EPAYonhap News |
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Short track men's team Shin Jong-eon (Roh Won-won) and women's team Kim Ki-li (Seongnam City Hall) ran gold together in the last medal race of the world tour ahead of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Im Jong-eon won the men's 1,000m short track world tour of the 2025-2026 International Skating Union (ISU) held at Sportbullebar in Dordrecht, the Netherlands on the 1st (Korea time) with a time of 1:25.877. Early in the final, he saved his physical strength in the rear and looked at the opportunity, then poured out all the energy left in the last lap. Lim Jong-eon, who was running in third place, escaped from the last curve to the out course and was the first to break the finish line, beating both Pietro Siegel (Italy) and Shaoang Liu (China). Im Jong-eon won his second world tour individual gold medal this season after the men's 1,500m in the first round of the world tour. In the semi-finals, he also beat Canada's William Dandanu, who is the world's strongest. Im Jong-eon passed first and Dan Dan-nu failed to complete the race by falling on his own. Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Government) gave up his participation in the semifinals due to pain in his left knee after passing second place in the men's 1,000m quarterfinal first group. Shin Dong-min (Korea University) finished second in the Final B. China's Lin Xiaojun (Im Hyojun) ranked third in Final B.
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| EPAYonhap News |
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Women also made a rebound. In the women's 1,500-meter race, Kim Ki-li was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 2:26.306, beating Canada's Courtney Saro to win the gold medal. Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall), who competed in the same event, won the bronze medal. In the match, three players got tangled up with four laps left before the finish line and fell all at once. Kim Ki-li, Choi Min-jeong, Saro and Elasa Confortola (Italy) continued the race. Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li chased after Saro as he rushed to the front. Choi Min-jeong aimed to come from behind with a long-term out-course run with two laps to go before the finish line. Considering this, Saro moved to the out course to defend himself. At this time, Kim Ki-li quickly rose to the lead in aiming for the in-course and crossed the finish line as first place. Following the third round of the world tour, Kim Ki-li won the event for the second time in a row.
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| EPAYonhap News |
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Choi Min-jeong, Kim Ki-li, Hwang Dae-heon, and Lim Jong-eon also added medals in the mixed 2000m relay. The four men finished third in the mixed relay final with a time of 2:38.038 behind the Netherlands and the United States. Choi Min-jeong also made a meaningful achievement by advancing to the final in the women's 500m, a vulnerable event, and ranking fifth.
However, South Korea is expected to get only two tickets to the women's 500m Olympics, not up to three. The three best performances for each player among the four world tours are added, and a total of 32 tickets for men's and women's 500m and 1000m and 36 tickets for 1,500m will be distributed by country in the highest order. Each country can receive up to three tickets per individual event. In the women's 500m rankings, only two of South Korea's top three were Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li. The ISU plans to inform the national federations of the preliminary rankings and the status of qualification for each short track Olympic event on the 12th of next month. Korean short track speed skaters are expected to acquire only two berths in the men's 500-meter race. South Korea also missed out on a ticket in the men's and women's 500m at the previous event, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Canada's presence, which has emerged as a powerful opponent of Korean short track through this world tour, will continue at the Milan-Cortani Winter Olympics. Danji Nouwa Saro, who ranked first in men's and women's all-around in this world tour, received the Crystal Globe. Canada took the top spot in the team event. In particular, Dan Dan-woo is the No. 1 target for Korean men's short track speed skating because he showed overwhelming skills. As interest in the Korean short track journey to Milan increases, more attention is expected to be paid to whether Canada, an opponent, will perform.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
