Korean Short Track Team Aims for Gold: Can They Overcome Past Olympic Disappointments?

Short Track National Team / Photo provided by Getty Images

South Korea’s short track speed skating team is poised to begin their golden pursuit at the Winter Olympics.

The team kicks off their campaign on February 10th at 6:30 PM local time with the women’s 500m qualifiers at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy.

The mixed relay event offers the first shot at a short track medal. With a silver and bronze already secured in snowboarding, South Korea aims to clinch their first gold in their traditional powerhouse discipline.

The mixed relay features two men and two women, each skating 500m for a total of 2000m. Quarterfinals begin at 7:59 PM, followed by semifinals at 8:23 PM, and the final at 9:03 PM.

Twelve teams will compete in three groups of four. The top two from each group advance directly to the semifinals, joined by the two fastest third-place finishers. Teams must place in the top two of their semifinal to reach the final.

South Korea looks to bounce back from a quarterfinal fall in this event’s Olympic debut at Beijing 2022. The team of Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-ri, Lim Jong-eon, and Hwang Dae-heon will lead the charge, with star skater Choi taking the crucial first leg.

Choi, a five-time Olympic medalist (3 gold, 2 silver), could tie the Korean Winter Olympic record of four golds with a victory. Two medals of any color would give her seven total, surpassing the current Korean Olympic record of six shared by Jin Jong-oh (shooting), Kim Soo-nyung (archery), and Lee Seung-hoon (speed skating).

Individual qualifiers precede the mixed relay. Choi Min-jeong and Kim Gil-ri compete in the women’s 500m at 6:30 PM, while Lim Jong-eon, Hwang Dae-heon, and Shin Dong-min race in the men’s 1000m at 7:10 PM.

Cha Jun-hwan / Photo provided by Getty Images

Figure skating takes center stage at the same venue following the short track events.

Cha Jun-hwan and Kim Hyun-gyeom will compete in the men’s singles short program at 2:30 AM on February 11th.

Cha, South Korea’s top male figure skater, makes his third Olympic appearance after finishing 15th in PyeongChang 2018 and 5th in Beijing 2022.

Fresh off a silver medal at last month’s ISU Four Continents Championships, Cha aims to secure South Korea’s first-ever Olympic medal in men’s singles figure skating.

In the team event, Cha placed 8th out of 10 skaters with a total score of 83.53 (41.78 TES, 41.75 PCS). He nailed a quad Salchow, triple Lutz-triple loop combo, and flying camel spin, but stumbled on the triple Axel. Cha looks to deliver a flawless performance in the individual event.

Olympic debutant Kim Hyun-gyeom joins Cha on the ice.

Only the top 24 of 29 competitors advance to the free skate. Both skaters aim to make history as the first South Korean men to qualify for the free skate together.

South Korean athletes continue their Olympic journey in other events. On February 10th at 5:15 PM, Han Dasom, Lee Eui-jin, and Lee Jun-seo compete in the cross-country skiing sprint classic qualifiers.

At 7:15 PM, Jung Dae-yoon, Lee Yoon-seung, and Yoon Shin-yi take on the freestyle skiing moguls qualifiers.

Choi Du-jin races in the men’s 20km individual biathlon at 9:30 PM. Jeong Hye-sun competes in women’s singles luge at 1 AM on February 11th.

[Sports Today, Reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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