Kwak to lead Covid-stricken squad at World Championships

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Published: 05 Apr. 2022, 16:25 Updated: 05 Apr. 2022, 17:03

Kwak to lead Covid-stricken squad at World Championships

Kwak Yoon-gy acknowledges fans at Incheon International Airport before jetting off for the 2021-22 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships that start Friday in Montreal, Canada. [NEWS1]

Olympic short track speed skater Kwak Yoon-gy will lead the men’s team at the 2021-22 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships without teammates Hwang Dae-heon and Park Jang-hyuk, who have both tested positive for Covid-19.

Kwak will be looking for his first gold medal in almost a decade, as the last time he took the top place at a World Championship was at the 2012 Shanghai World Championship where he won the 1,000-meter gold, 1,500-meter silver, 500-meter bronze and 5,000-meter team relay bronze all in the same competition. The four medals landed him the most points in men’s short track, allowing him to take the Overall World Champion title.

Kwak joined the national short track team in 2007 and has competed at three Olympics, winning two silver medals. He picked up his second Olympic medal in Beijing, winning silver in the men's 5,000-meter relay. Twelve years ago, he also won the 5,000-meter relay silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Kwak has won seven gold, six silver and three bronze medals at the World Championships.

He is now the oldest short track speed skater on the Korean team. At the Beijing Games, 32-year-old Kwak was the second oldest short tracker after Charles Amelin of Canada, who is 38 years old, but he still clinched the relay silver, playing the decisive role as the last racer.

However in Montreal, Korea will be missing two key short trackers from the Olympic relay squad after Beijing 1,500-meter gold medalist Hwang and Beijing team relay member Park Jang-hyuk both tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the championships. Only Lee June-seo and Kwak will be able to compete in Montreal.

Instead, Kim Dong-wook, who was the substitute during the Beijing Winter Games, Park In-wook and Han Seung-soo will compete in Montreal with Kwak. Kwak and Kim will compete in the individual races, while Park and Han will only join for the team relay.

The Korean short track team poses for the photo before jetting off for the 2021-22 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships that start Friday at Montreal, Canada. [NEWS1]

The 2021-22 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships will run from Friday to Sunday at Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal. The event was originally scheduled to be held from March 18 to 20, but was postponed due to Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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