Jung Jae-won, 'No medal for the first time in four years in the ice speed of South Korea's Korea', 5th place in the 男 mass start '3 consecutive medals failed'... PARK JI WOO is 14th in 女 [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

Medal honours in three consecutive tournaments were not an easy task. Jung Jae-won (25, Gangwon Provincial Office) finished the competition without a spectator at the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics.

Jung Jae-won crossed the finish line for the fifth time with a time of 8:04:60 in the men's mass start final at Milan Speed Skating Stadium in Italy on the 22nd (Korea time).

Jung Jae-won, who served as a special assistant for Lee Seung-hoon's gold medal hunting in this event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, won a silver medal in the men's team pursuit and four years later, he proudly played the lead role in Beijing and won a silver medal in the mass start. This time, he sought a medal for three consecutive tournaments, but unfortunately failed.

Yorit Berchsma (Dutch) and Victor Hal Thor (Denmark) competed aggressively from the beginning, but Jung Jae-won maintained his pace by accumulating his physical strength.

However, the gap with the leading group widened too much, and the rear group had no choice but to watch their run. There was a gap of more than half a turn with the front runners, and in the end, the game proceeded in the form of a bronze medal match in the rear group.

Ahead of the last lap, the rear-end group also raised their pace rapidly together, and Jung Jae-won also sputtered, but finished the race in the final fifth place.

The 40-year-old veteran Berchsma strategically hit from the beginning, but he did not have any physical problems, but rather widened the gap and predicted an early victory. Ahead of the finish line, he looked up and celebrated leisurely, enjoying the joy of the gold medal.

Berchsma, who won a gold medal in the 10,000m and a bronze medal in the 5,000m at the 2014 Sochi Games, won a silver medal in the 10,000m at Pyeongchang in 2018 and then harvested her fourth medal in the event. Thor won the silver medal and Andrea Giovanni of Italy won the bronze medal.

Jordan Stoltz of the U.S., who challenged for three gold medals after the 500 and 1,000 meters in this competition, left a regret in fourth place.

Meanwhile, Kim Min-seok, who was naturalized to Hungary after being suspended for a year and a half after a drunk driving accident in 2022, finished 12th without a score, failing to reach the final round.

Park Ji-woo (28, Gangwon Provincial Government), who competed in the women's final, finished 14th. Park Ji-woo, who had been eliminated in the semifinals in both previous Olympics, finished third in the semifinals, but bowed his head to hunt for medals on the final stage for the first time in his life.

Park Ji-woo, who continued the race in the middle without rushing in the beginning, accumulated his physical strength and waited for his time, just like Jung Jae-won.

Despite his competitors' point hunting, Park Ji-woo kept his pace and waited for the last minute. With two laps to go, he gradually began to speed up, but failed to overwhelm his competitors. He gained strength on the last lap and crossed the finish line for the seventh time, but the final ranking fell to 14th place because he did not get a middle point.

Maricke Grönewood of the Netherlands won the title, Ivani Blondin of Canada and Mia Manganello of the U.S. won the bronze medal.

Starting with Lee Kang-seok's men's 500m bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Games, the Korean ice speed, which was represented by Lee Sang-hwa, Lee Seung-hoon and Mo Tae-beom, was no longer a medal at the event for the first time in 24 years.

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*This content was translated by AI.