5th to 3rd place 'Push Miracle Day' Lim Jong-eon said, "I thought I would laugh if I won a medal..." "Heated Tears" Overcome the Injury [the scene of Milan]

*This content was translated by AI.

Im Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall), who won a valuable bronze medal, shed tears.

Im Jong-eon crossed the finish line with a time of 1:24.611, third place in the men's 1,000m short track final at the '2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics' held at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy on the 12th (local time).

Im Jong-eon, who started the race with world-class athletes such as Jens VanTbout (the Netherlands), Sun Long (China), and William Danzanu (Canada), sought an opportunity from behind in the beginning. He tried to overtake the out course by raising the spurt on the remaining three laps, but it was not easy. However, he did his best on the last lap, eventually reaching third place and sticking out his skating blade. The final rankings were VanVout at No. 1, Sun Lung at No. 2, and Im Jong-Eun at No. 3.

Im Jong-eon thus presented the first medal for the Korean short track team in this competition. In addition, he won a medal in this event for the first time in eight years since the bronze medal at the 1,000m Seira at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

"On the first day, I was very nervous because it was a big stage called the Olympics, so I showed an uncharacteristic slump," Lim Jong-eon, who met in the mixed zone (joint coverage area) after the game, said. "But today, I promised, 'Let's trust myself and do it with confidence, let's play what I can do best."

"We continued to run the same race from the quarter final to the final, and I'm so happy to get the bronze medal because we did well without regret," he said.

On this day, Lim Jong-eon took a strategy of watching the opportunity from the beginning and watching the game with a last-minute spurt. In response, he said, "I only thought of one thing before entering the game. "I didn't panic no matter who came out, and I thought I could do it if I trusted myself and went out on the out course," he said. "I think I was able to get good results because I continued to run the same race from the quarterfinals to the finals."

As for the reason for the "out course overtaking" game, he said, "On the first day, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the Olympics and I think I ran a race in front because I didn't fully trust myself," adding, "Now I want to have confidence and play the game I can do best without regret."

At the end of the race, it was a close race that could not be ranked until it crossed the finish line. Im Jong-eon said, "I was in fifth place until half a turn left. Still, I believed in the training I had been doing until the end and squeezed more strength to push me," he said. "I was confused about the bronze medal or the fourth place until the result came out, but I was so happy and emotional that the teachers and older brothers congratulated me."

He cited "belief" as the driving force behind this medal. "Before entering the game, all my friends, teachers, and parents who trusted me were trusting me, but I thought, 'What if I don't trust myself?' and said, "I gained confidence again with that thought and had a good result."

Lim Jong-eon, an Olympic medalist who was hard to imagine a year ago, said, "When I was interviewed for the national team selection match, I said I would laugh if I won a medal, but when I won it, I cried rather than laughing," adding, "There were many moments when I wanted to give up and had a hard time, but I was able to stand on this stage thanks to people who believed in me every time. I was so grateful to myself for trusting myself and doing it until the end, so I cried," he confessed.

The meaning was different because it was a podium that overcame three major injuries. "The moment the medal was confirmed, the moments when I was sick and injured while skating passed by," he said. "I'm so happy to win the medal as if I'm repaying myself."

The bronze medal is expected to be a new turning point in Lim Jong-eon's short track career. "I'm a little disappointed, but I think this will be another foothold in my short track life and an opportunity to grow and become stronger," he said. "As I played today, I realized once again about short track and became more interested."

Im Jong-eon, who gained momentum, will start hunting for gold again in the 1,500m, another main event, on the 14th. "Now I'm relaxed, and I've gained confidence in what to do," he said, adding, "I'll do my best to have no regrets in the rest of the game, believe in myself and make better results."

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*This content was translated by AI.