"An older sister that I respect." There was no Choi Min Jeong... Kim Ki-li of the 'Hollow Final' is a valuable 'bronze medal' that Korea the face of short track in South Korea. [the scene of Milan]

*This content was translated by AI.

At a time when Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall) failed to advance to the final, Kim Ki-li (Seongnam City Hall), the "next-generation ace," saved face in the Korean women's short track.

Kim Ki-li won the bronze medal in the women's short track final at the '2026 Milan/Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics' held at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on the 16th (local time), finishing third after Sandra Belzebur (the Netherlands) and Courtney Saro (Canada).

Originally, South Korea planned to hunt for medals with the clear "one-two punch" of Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li. The two players reached the final together and drew a picture of towing and checking each other, but the reality was not. Choi Min-jeong failed to advance to the final, finishing fourth out of five in the semifinals.

Kim Ki-li was the only Korean player at the final start line. The opponent was not easy. Western powers surrounded Kim Ki-li, including Belzebur with explosive speed and Saro with good power. It was a difficult battle to penetrate them alone without Choi Min-jeong.

Kim Ki-li's run was simply a struggle. Kim Ki-li, who saw an opportunity in the rear of the race early on, rose to third place by attempting to overtake the out-course with four laps to go. With two laps to go, he dug into the in-course aiming to take the lead, but fell back to third place due to the physical struggle and speed of Western players with good physical conditions. He tried his best to push the blades to the last lap, but it was not enough to reverse the ranking.

Although it was not a gold medal, it was a valuable run that prevented the worst-case scenario. Following the bad luck of the mixed relay earlier, he was caught up in a foul by Hanner Desmott (Belgium) in the semifinal line and got an ADV ticket after twists and turns.

Kim Ki-li, who reached the final after many twists and turns, overcame the pressure of the final stage without Choi Min-jeong and climbed to the lowest position on the podium.

After the game, Kim Ki-li wiped away tears as if he was a mixture of regret and relief. "The weight of the medal is heavier than I thought," he said, meeting in the joint coverage area (Mix Zone). "There were many collisions on the way to the final, so I just thought, 'Please don't fall and let's ride without regret.'

During the interview, when Choi Min-jeong, a senior, came out, her eyes turned red. Immediately after the game, Choi Min-jeong hugged her junior Kim Ki-li and congratulated her. Kim Ki-li showed tears and couldn't talk for a while, and said, "It was good that my sister, who I respect so much, cheered me up like this," and added, "I was so grateful that everyone just said, 'I rode well.'"

Kim Ki-li, who proved the qualification of "Ace" instead of Choi Min-jeong. Now his eyes are on the main events of the 1,500m and 3,000m relay races. Kim Ki-li said, "I gained confidence through the 1,000m. In the rest of the race, I will stage a bolder and more regretless race," he said.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.