"As expected, it's a good sport." Three short track Korea have made it to the quarterfinals... Choi Min-jeong continues to challenge 'the most gold medals ever' [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

As expected, he was a short track powerhouse. Kim Ki-li (22), Choi Min-jeong (28, Seongnam City Hall), and Lee So-yeon (33, Sports Toto) all succeeded in advancing to the women's 500m quarterfinals.

Choi Min-jeong advanced to the quarterfinals by finishing second in the group with a time of 43.204 seconds in the women's 500m short track preliminary round of the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics held at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy on the 10th (Korea time).

Choi Min-jeong, who started the race in Group 6, continued the race by securing the second place with a starting signal. Choi Min-jeong, who took the lead with explosive speed with three laps to go, skillfully defended the in-course and shook off the pursuit of Haner Desmott (Belgium). After a close race leading to the photo finish decision, Choi Min-jeong crossed the finish line in second place, 0.18 seconds behind Desmott.

Kim Ki-li, who played in Group 2, also won a ticket to the quarterfinals with a stable race. After passing the first lap in second place, Kim Ki-li closely followed the lead, Courtney Saro of Canada. Kim Ki-li, who raced with a gap throughout the race, finished second in the group with a time of 43.301 seconds and easily passed the preliminary round.

Lee So-yeon, who set Korea's oldest short track Olympic debut record, showed her fighting spirit in Group 7. Lee So-yeon, who started in fourth place, the lowest, showed her hindsight in the middle of the race and rose to third place with two laps to go. Lee finished third in the group with a time of 43.406 seconds, but joined the next round, earning a berth given to players with good records in addition to the top two in each group.

Short track is a representative winter Olympics event. Ahead of this competition, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also highlighted high expectations for Korean short track speed skating.

On the 8th, the IOC predicted the event's short track events on its official website, defining South Korea as "the most successful country in the history of short track at the Winter Olympics." In particular, he proved his global interest by paying attention to the actions of "Short Track Empress" Choi Min-jeong.

In particular, the IOC said of Choi Min-jeong, "She won one gold medal and two silver medals at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, starting with two gold medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics," adding, "She is also the strongest candidate for gold in this competition."

Choi Min-jeong is on the verge of creating a milestone through this Olympics. If one more gold medal is added, he will tie the record for the most gold medals in the Korean Winter Olympics along with Jeon Jeon-kyung (4). In particular, if she wins in the women's 1,500m, she will build an unprecedented gold tower of three consecutive individual events for the first time in Olympic short track history.

Choi Min-jeong, who has won gold medals in three consecutive competitions, will compete in a total of five events, including the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m mixed relay and the women's 3,000m relay.

Starting with Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li, Shim Suk-hee (Seoul City Hall), Noh Do-hee (Hwaseong City Hall), Im Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall), Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Office), and Shin Dong-min (Korea University) will hunt for medals at the Olympics. Starting with the women's 500-meter preliminary round on the 10th, Korea's journey will continue for about two weeks until the men's 5,000-meter relay final on the 21st.

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*This content was translated by AI.