SEOUL, February 17 (AJP) -South Korea picked up another bronze medal in short track speed skating, advanced to the men’s relay final and extended its winning streak in women’s curling as Olympic action aired Tuesday morning in Korean time at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Kim Gil-li won bronze in the women’s 1,000 meters at Milano Ice Skating Arena, earning South Korea’s sixth medal of the Games and her first career Olympic podium.
The 21-year-old finished behind Dutch star Xandra Velzeboer and Canada’s Courtney Sarault after a dramatic nine-lap race.
Kim stayed near the back early as Sarault set the pace, with Italy’s Arianna Fontana close behind. She surged into third place with four laps remaining and briefly took the lead with two laps left after a bold inside pass. Velzeboer and Sarault, however, regained control in the final stretch, pushing Kim to third.
It marked South Korea’s third short track medal in Milan, following Rim Jong-un’s bronze in the men’s 1,000m and Hwang Dae-heon’s silver in the men’s 1,500m.
South Korea has now collected 56 Olympic short track medals, the most by any country.
Two-time Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong missed the final after placing fourth in her semifinal and finished third in Final B.
Men’s relay books final berth
South Korea advanced to the final of the men’s 5,000m relay for the first time in 20 years.
The quartet of Lee June-seo, Rim, Lee Jeong-min, and Shin Dong-min won Heat 2 of the semifinals ahead of the Netherlands.
Canada and Italy advanced from Heat 1, with the final scheduled for Friday.
After staying near the back early in the 45-lap race, South Korea surged late. Lee Jeong-min’s decisive inside pass with six laps remaining set up the winning move, and Rim anchored the team by holding off Dutch star Jens van 't Wout.
“We executed more than 90 percent of our race plan,” Lee June-seo said. “Everyone played their role.”
Women’s curling beats China, improves semifinal hopes
South Korea’s women’s curling team also boosted its medal prospects with a dramatic win over China.
Led by skip Kim Eun-ji, with third Kim Min-ji, second Kim Su-ji, lead Seol Ye-eun, and fifth Seol Ye-ji, “Team 5G” edged China 10-9 in their sixth round-robin match Tuesday morning (Korean time) at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
The victory extended South Korea’s winning streak to two matches and lifted the team to a 4-2 record, tied for second place with Switzerland and the United States.
South Korea had revived its campaign two days earlier by beating longtime rival Japan 7-5 and followed up with another close win over China.
Ten teams are competing in a round-robin format, with the top four advancing to the knockout stage.
“Team 5G,” which went undefeated at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, is aiming for its first Olympic medal since “Team Kim” won silver at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. South Korea face Switzerland at 10:05 p.m. Tuesday (Korea time).
Despite steady medal production, South Korea remains without a short track gold in Italy.
With five medal events completed and four remaining, the country has earned one silver and two bronze medals in short track. No Korean skater remains in the men’s 500m after Rim and Hwang were eliminated.
South Korea will next compete in the men’s 5,000m relay final, the women’s 3,000m relay final, and the women’s 1,500m, where Kim Gil-li and Choi Min-jeong are still in contention.
South Korea has won at least two short track gold medals at every Olympics since 1992, when the sport became a medal event. That streak is now in jeopardy. At most Winter Games, short track has driven South Korea’s medal count.
This year, however, half of the country’s six medals have come from snowboarding, including its lone gold so far by Choi Gaon in the women’s halfpipe.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
