"New Empress" Choi Min-jeong and Kim Gili will go to the finals side by side for 1,500m! Korea Short Track "First Gold in Individual Competition" Seen [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li (Sungnam City Hall) of the Korean women's short track speed skating team settled side by side in the 1,500m final of the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, raising the possibility of their first gold medal in the individual competition.

Kim Ki-li (Group 1) and Choi Min-jeong (Group 3) showed off their overwhelming skills by crossing the finish line in the women's 1,500m short track semifinals at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on the 21st (Korea time).

Kim Ki-li, who competed first, easily passed first place in Group 1 of the semifinals. Kim Ki-li, who was engaged in a search game early in the game, threw a winning move with four laps left. He sharply overtook "legendary" Ariana Fontana (Italy), who was supported by the home crowd's unilateral support, in-course to seize the lead.

Since then, Kim Ki-li has been the first to cross the finish line with a time of 2:29:385, showing a perfect race operation that does not allow a single turnaround. However, Noh Do-hee, who played in the first group together, collided with Haner Desmoge (Belgium) with three laps to go and fell, which was a pity to be eliminated.

Choi Min-jeong, who played in Group 3, showed overwhelming performance. In the previous Group 2, the atmosphere of the ice rink became chaotic due to a series of variables in which strong candidates slipped on the ice, but Choi Min-jeong maintained her calmness.

Choi Min-jeong, who was looking for an opportunity in the back of the line until the middle, took the lead with her unique explosive acceleration with four laps to go. Afterwards, Choi Min-jeong, who widened the distance with stable skating, took first place in the group with a time of 2:20:984 to win the ticket to the final.

With this, South Korea has gained the upper hand to stage a strategic race with two athletes in the women's 1,500-meter final. In particular, Choi Min-jeong is trying to win three consecutive 1,500m titles following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, starting with the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

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*This content was translated by AI.