Kim Ki-li and Lim Jong-eon 'Who will block it' and the Olympics trend is on the rise. 'Gold race with short track world championships'

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Ki-li (22, Seongnam City Hall) and Shin Jong-eon (20, Goyang City Hall), the top stars of the 2026 Milan/Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, continued their momentum at the short track world championships.

Kim Ki-li won the gold medal with a time of 1:28.843 in the women's 1,000m final of the 2026 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships at Morris Richard Arena in Montreal, Canada on the 15th (Korea time).

Kim Ki-li, who won two gold medals in the 1,500m and women's relay at the Winter Olympics, also proved to be Korea's best ace in name and reality by winning the world championships.

He started in the outermost lane of the final with five players, but Kim Ki-li managed the game leisurely. Rather than digging in too hard, I saw the time and from the two laps left, I succeeded in overtaking through the out course to rise to third place.

It was the last lap that changed the medal light. In the last corner, he came back perfectly and beat Sandra Belzebur (1:28.852) who was leading with her left foot out to win the title by just 0.009 seconds. Elisa Confortola (1:28:920) came in third place.

Shim Suk-hee (Seoul Metropolitan Government), who worked with Kim Ki-li in the Olympic relay, failed in the semi-final and Lee So-yeon (Sports Toto) failed in the semi-final, causing regret.

With Choi Min-jeong expressing her intention to retire from the national team after the last Olympics, Kim Ki-li entered the competition with a heavy responsibility that should be the hope of the national team, but with a scary rise, she even won the gold medal in the individual event.

Lim Jong-eon, the youngest man in the world, finished the race first with a time of 2:14.974 in the 1,500m and harvested a gold medal with Kim Ki-li.

Im Jong-eon also raced in the middle until the middle of the race, saving his strength. With three laps to go, he began to move forward and slowly accelerated his pace without missing the gap between Canada's William Danji and Nou.

Lim Jong-eon, who was in third place, crossed the finish line in first place, leaving behind the players who were fighting in the final lap and beating them at once with an out course.

Thomas Nadalini (Italy, 2:15.218) came in second and recorded Stainesd'Amour (Dutch, 2:15.327). Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Government) and Shin Dong-min (Hwaseong City Hall) failed in the semifinal.

Meanwhile, the men's national team, paired with Im Jong-eon, Shin Dong-min, Lee Jung-min, and Lee Joon-seo (Seongnam City Hall), advanced to the final by ranking first in Group 2 of the 5,000-meter relay semifinals, while the women were Kim Ki-li, Shim Suk-hee, Lee So-yeon, and No Ah-reum (Jeonbuk Provincial Government) worked together without Choi Min-jeong, but failed to reach the final, falling to third place in Group 2 of the 3,000-meter relay semifinals.

Kim Ki-li, Lee So-yeon, Hwang Dae-heon, and Lim Jong-eon succeeded in advancing to the final by ranking second with 2:44:976 after Canada (2:38.852) in the second group of the 2000m mixed relay semifinals. Im Jong-eon is trying to win two gold medals.

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*This content was translated by AI.