Choi helps Korea achieve goal of 'one or two' golds in Beijing

Olympic Sports

Published: 17 Feb. 2022, 15:30

Choi helps Korea achieve goal of 'one or two' golds in Beijing

Choi Min-jeong reacts after winning the women's 1500-meters final during the short track speedskating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

Choi Min-jeong reacts on the podium after winning the women's 1,500-meter final during the short track speed skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

Short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong won her third medal at the Beijing Games, winning the women's 1,500-meter gold medal on Wednesday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing after setting a new Olympic record in the semifinal race.

With Choi's gold medal in addition to Hwang Dae-heon's men's 1500-meter gold medal, the short trackers have single-handedly achieved Korea's objective of winning one to two gold medals at the Beijing Games.

Korea entered the Games with a stated objective of winning "one or two gold medals," a smaller number than the five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals the team won at the PyeongChang Games.

Though it was expected that those medals would most likely be won in short track, where Korea has won 26 Olympic gold medals to date, that both Choi and Hwang would be able to pull through amidst the crashes and controversies that dominated the early stages of the competition wasn't always a sure thing.

Ahead of the Games, Choi was thrown off balance after being embroiled in a controversy surrounding a collision in the women's 1,000-meter final at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, when it was revealed that teammate Shim Suk-hee had sent offensive messages about Choi to a coach.

Not only that, but Choi suffered injuries to her knee and ankle in the middle of the most recent International Skating Union (ISU) season.

Then, at the beginning of the Games, Choi crashed out of the women's 500 meters after slipping in the quarterfinals on a dramatic day for Korea that saw a number of other serious medal contenders knocked out of contention.

But all that early drama was nowhere to be seen on Wednesday, when Choi hit the ice looking more determined than ever and topped all of her heats.

In the medal race, Choi crossed the finish line with a time of 2:17.789 to defend her 2018 PyeongChang title.

Choi started in the inner lane and immediately took the lead, with countrywoman Lee Yu-bin following behind. About a third of the way into the race, Han Yutong of China started a surprise sprint to try and take an early lead, but failed and fell back behind Choi within a couple of laps.

Choi was able to hold onto that lead until the very end. Lee finished sixth with a time of 2:18.825.

Choi now has three medals at the Beijing Games, after winning silver in the women's 1,000 meters last Friday and in the 3,000-meter relay on Sunday.

"It feels too good to be true," Choi said after the race. "Maybe its because this is my second gold medal, I was happy when I won gold in Pyeongchang, but it feels more special this time around.

"Preparing for the Games was not easy to do, I am relieved that I overcame the hardships and got good results."

Kim A-lang, center, Italy's Arianna Fontana, left and Germany's Anna Seidel get ready to compete in the women's 1,500-meter semifinal at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Wednesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Choi is known for her last-minute comebacks, but this time she took an uncharacteristic early lead and held onto it until the end.

"I was leading the pack and I thought that I should hold out even if I get tired toward the end of the race," said Choi. "I expected there to be variables in the race. I think that I could win because I kept my pace even when other players started sprinting."

En route to the finals, three Koreans had competed in the women's 1,500-meter event. Alongside Choi and Lee, Kim A-lang earned a place in the semifinals but finished fourth and failed to earn a spot in the finals with only the top two skaters advancing.

Choi and Lee both reached the finals after topping their semifinal heats.

Lee Yu-bin races in her semifinal of the women's 1500 meters during the short track speed skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

"I am grateful to have finished all races at the Olympics despite all adversities," said Lee. "I had to prepare for the Games without knowing if I could compete at the Olympics.

"Lots of things are going through my mind right now, but I want to thank my parents and family members who must have looked forward to the 1,500-meter race."

Lee's brother is also a speed skater and is currently serving in the military. Lee famously posed in a salute ceremony for her brother after winning gold at the World Cup series ahead of the Olympics.

"I'm sorry to my biggest supporter, my brother, who is in the military. I had promised him that I would do the salute ceremony on the podium. But I promise to become a better skater from this experience and come back stronger at the next Games."

Choi raced alongside six other contenders in the semifinals, pulling off an incredible comeback to take first place in the last lap from the middle of the pack, comfortably earning a spot in the finals and setting a new Olympic record of 2:16.831, beating Chinese skater Zhou Yang's record of 2:16.993 set in 2010.

Choi now holds both the Olympic and world records in the women's 1,500 meters. Choi's world record of 2:14.354 was set in November, 2016.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]