Choi Min-jeong skates in the women’s 1,000-meter quarterfinals at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 16 (local time). [Photo by Yonhap]
South Korean short track star Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall) will chase another milestone at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics.
Choi is scheduled to race in the women’s 1,500 meters at 4:15 a.m. Friday (Korea time) at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy.
The event will run from the quarterfinals through the semifinals and final on the same day. The medal-deciding final is set for 6:07 a.m.
After helping South Korea win gold in the women’s 3,000-meter relay, Choi has yet to take gold in an individual event at these Games. The 1,500 meters offers her a chance to finish short track’s final day with a title.
The 1,500 is Choi’s signature event. She won it at the 2018 PyeongChang and 2022 Beijing Olympics and enters as the defending champion.
No short track skater, male or female, has won the same Olympic individual event three straight times. If Choi wins again, she would be the first.
Even including relays, the only three-peat in a single short track event remains South Korea’s women’s 3,000-meter relay, which won four straight from Lillehammer 1994 through Turin 2006.
Choi has won four Olympic gold medals and two silvers. She is already tied for South Korea’s most Winter Olympic golds and tied for the most Olympic medals by a South Korean athlete across both the Summer and Winter Games.
If she wins the 1,500 again, she would move into sole possession of the South Korean record with seven career Olympic medals. She would also set a new national mark with five Winter Olympic golds, while completing the first three-peat in an Olympic short track individual event.
South Korea will also have Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall) and Noh Do-hee (Hwaseong City Hall), both members of the relay gold team, in the women’s 1,500.
The men’s team will go for gold in the 5,000-meter relay final at 5:30 a.m. Friday, led by Lim Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall) and Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Government), aiming to reclaim the title for the first time in 20 years.
Choi is scheduled to race in the women’s 1,500 meters at 4:15 a.m. Friday (Korea time) at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy.
The event will run from the quarterfinals through the semifinals and final on the same day. The medal-deciding final is set for 6:07 a.m.
After helping South Korea win gold in the women’s 3,000-meter relay, Choi has yet to take gold in an individual event at these Games. The 1,500 meters offers her a chance to finish short track’s final day with a title.
The 1,500 is Choi’s signature event. She won it at the 2018 PyeongChang and 2022 Beijing Olympics and enters as the defending champion.
No short track skater, male or female, has won the same Olympic individual event three straight times. If Choi wins again, she would be the first.
Even including relays, the only three-peat in a single short track event remains South Korea’s women’s 3,000-meter relay, which won four straight from Lillehammer 1994 through Turin 2006.
Choi has won four Olympic gold medals and two silvers. She is already tied for South Korea’s most Winter Olympic golds and tied for the most Olympic medals by a South Korean athlete across both the Summer and Winter Games.
If she wins the 1,500 again, she would move into sole possession of the South Korean record with seven career Olympic medals. She would also set a new national mark with five Winter Olympic golds, while completing the first three-peat in an Olympic short track individual event.
South Korea will also have Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall) and Noh Do-hee (Hwaseong City Hall), both members of the relay gold team, in the women’s 1,500.
The men’s team will go for gold in the 5,000-meter relay final at 5:30 a.m. Friday, led by Lim Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall) and Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Government), aiming to reclaim the title for the first time in 20 years.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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