"The 女 relay award ceremony was also touching." The oldest who couldn't make it to the final went up to the podium [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

The Korean women's short track team stood atop the women's 3,000m relay podium at the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. As much as the touching gold race, which was made with a last-minute reversal, the award ceremony, which was held by "the oldest sister" Lee So-yeon (33, Sports Toto), was also impressive.

The women's short track team consisting of Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li (Sungnam City Hall), Noh Do-hee (Hwasong City Hall) and Shim Suk-hee (Seoul City Hall) won the gold medal with a time of 4:04:014 in the women's 3,000m relay final at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy on the 19th (Korea time), beating Italy (4:04:107) and Canada (4:04:314).

It was a huge upset with four laps to go before the finish line. South Korea, which was racing for the third time, rose to second place after Choi Min-jeong overtook Canada, and the last runner Kim Ki-li overtook Italy to take the lead with two laps to go before the finish line. Kim Ki-li was the first to cross the finish line after keeping the lead until the end.

It is the second gold medal in the Korean team's competition after Choi Ga-on (Sehwa Girls' High School), a snowboard women's halfpipe, and the first gold medal in a short track event. It was also a moment to reaffirm its position as the 'world's strongest' in this event by winning its seventh gold medal (one silver medal) out of nine competitions in history, including this competition.

The women's national team later produced a touching moment at the awards ceremony. The bronze medal (Canada) and silver medal (Italy) players first take the podium, and then the last "gold medal" Korean team's turn. Five players stood side by side with Lee at the center, while the other four did not step on the podium first before Lee climbed. Instead, Lee So-yeon waited with gestures from both sides so that she could get on the podium first.

It was a kind of ceremony prepared by the younger brothers for Lee So-yeon. Lee So-yeon, who was born in 1993, first became a member of the national team in 2012, but she has not been able to reach the Olympics so far as this is her first Olympics in her life. However, he finally made the Olympic stage by ranking fourth in the national team selection match in the 2025-2026 season. He did not participate in the individual competition in this competition, but instead helped in the team relay.

Lee So-yeon, who was in the semifinals of the relay by setting the record for the oldest Korean women's short track, helped South Korea reach the final by ranking first overall in the preliminary round. However, he failed to play in the final on the 19th. South Korea, which has five relay entries, participated in the semifinals and Noh Do-hee in the final. Lee So-yeon earnestly cheered for her younger siblings without racing in person in the final. Fortunately, the women's national team was the first to cross the finish line and win the gold medal.

Although they did not play together on the final stage, they did not forget Lee So-yeon, the "first sister" who led the younger brothers well throughout the tournament and helped them in the semifinals earlier. Kim Ki-li said, "Let's all make the oldest sister stand out." Without anyone saying first, my sister asked me to go up first and then go up," he said. Thanks to this, Lee So-yeon was the first to stand on the Olympic podium of her dream with a big smile, and only then did other athletes take the podium to express their joy. The national anthem also resonated at Milan's ice skating arena for the first time in the tournament.

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*This content was translated by AI.