Foreign media praised "Kim Gili overwhelmingly wins with thrilling races → Choi Min-jeong also showed her potential, but she missed it by a short distance of three consecutive losses." [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

The Korean short track's "New and Old Harmony" painted the night in Milan, Italy, with gold and silver. Next-generation ace Kim Ki-li (22) won her first Olympic individual gold medal in her career, and "Living Legend" Choi Min-jeong (28, Seongnam City Hall) added a valuable silver medal, breaking the record for the most medals in the Korean Winter Olympics. Foreign media also praised his overwhelming performance.

Kim Ki-li and Choi Min-jeong crossed the finish line in first and second place in the women's 1,500m short track final held at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy on the 21st (Korea time), marking the "one-two finish." Kim Ki-li's time was 2:32.076, and Choi Min-jeong's time was 2:32.450, which was only a difference of 0:374.

In the early stages of the race, a tense war of wits continued. While Corinne Stoddard of the U.S. and Ariana Fontana of host Italy remained in the lead until the middle of the race, Choi Min-jeong and Kim Ki-li saw an opportunity from the back. In particular, Stoddard seemed to foreshadow an unexpected event by leading most of the race with his unique explosive early speed.

However, the Korean players' experiences shone in the latter half of the race. With seven laps to go, Choi Min-jeong quickly rose to second place by attempting to overtake the out course, and soon after, Kim Ki-li also began to hit. With the last two laps to go, the two players made a simultaneous spurt as if they had promised, easily beating the leader Stoddard to take the lead. In the end, Kim Ki-li beat Choi Min-jeong with explosive speed to win the gold and silver medals. The scene where the two players, who competed in good faith, encouraged each other immediately after crossing the finish line was truly overwhelming.

The Athletic, a U.S. sports media outlet, said shortly after the match, "Korea's Kim Ki-li and Choi Min-jeong showed a thrilling and clean race. It was an event that showed the overwhelming performance of Korean short track speed skating. Choi Min-jeong, who showed great potential, said, "Unfortunately, I missed the milestone of 1,500-meter gold medal for the third consecutive Olympics."

Another U.S. media outlet NBC Sports said, "Korea has been strong in short track for a long time, especially in the 1,500m event. It is a country that has produced five winners out of seven."

At the same time, he paid attention to Stoddard's bronze medal in the U.S. In the United States, a female athlete won a medal in the individual short track event for the first time in 16 years since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Catherine Rotier (38, now retired) was the last medalist in the U.S. women's short track speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

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*This content was translated by AI.