Park Ji-won crowned short track World Cup champion

Park Ji-won, left, celebrates after winning the 1,000 meters at the 2023 ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating event in Dordrecht, the Netherlands on Feb. 12. [YONHAP]

Short track speed skater Park Ji-won has been crowned the men's overall champion after winning two gold medals at the ISU Short Track World Cup in Dordrecht, the Netherlands on Sunday.

Park was the first recipient of the Crystal Globe, an award created in the 2022-23 season and given to the skater with the most points at the end of the season. Park won the award with 1,068 points, beating the runner-up Hong Kyung-hwan by nearly 400 points.

Park, 26, won gold in the men’s 1,000 meters at the sixth ISU World Cup with a time of 85.359 seconds on Sunday. He did not stop there, however, and secured another gold as the last skater in the men’s 5,000 meters relay race.

The Korean skating ace has proved his class throughout this season, earning multiple medals at every single World Cup event: Three gold medals at the first World Cup, one gold and three silvers at the second, two golds and one silver at the third, three golds at the fourth and two at the fifth.

Park has never seen this much success with the national team, having previously been in the shadow of Olympic gold medalists Hwang Dae-heon and Lim Hyo-jun. Lim was suspended from competing for Korea in 2021 due to a sexual harassment charge and ultimately opted to nationalize to China and compete for the Chinese team, whilst Hwang is out for the season as he is struggling with lingering long Covid symptoms.

Park will return to Korea and participate in the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Yangcheon, western Seoul next month.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]