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Future looks bright for Team Korea after young athletes shine at Asian Winter Games

Published: 14 Feb. 2025, 17:26

Korea surpasses their gold medal target in Harbin, China on the final day of the Asian Winter Games on Feb. 14. [YONHAP]

Korea breezed past its Asian Winter Games gold medal target in China this month with victories from ice and snow, an encouraging development for its up-and-coming athletes one year ahead of the Winter Olympics in Italy.

With the gold medal in women's curling on Friday, the final day of the competition, Korea finished with 16 gold medals, five more than its initial target and tied for its Winter Asiad record set in 2017 in Sapporo, Japan.

As expected, short track speed skaters carried the day, sweeping up six gold medals over the first two days of the Winter Asiad in Harbin. Choi Min-jeong, a three-time Olympic champion back after taking a leave of absence last season, led the way with three gold medals. Kim Gil-li, Park Ji-won and Jang Sung-woo were all double gold medalists.

Speed skaters on the long track contributed three gold medals. Lee Na-hyun, 19, won a surprise gold medal in the women's 100 meters and lifted Korea to the team sprint gold medal, too, as part of her four-medal performance.

There were some historic gold medals for Korea in snow events.

Ekaterina Avvakumova, a Russian-born biathlete naturalized as Korean, won the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint title for Korea's very first Winter Asiad gold medal in the sport. She also helped Korea to silver in the women's 4x6km relay.

Ko Eun-jung, Ekaterina Avvakumova, Abe Mariya and Jung Ju-mi, from left to right, of Korea pose for photo at the medal ceremony for Biathlon women's 4x6km relay at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China on Thursday, Feb. 13. [YONHAP]

Lee Seung-hun became Korea's first-ever freestyle skiing gold medalist when he claimed the men's halfpipe title.

In snowboard, Lee Chae-un was crowned the inaugural champion of the men's slopestyle event.

Lee, 18, did not win gold in his main event, halfpipe, as Kim Geon-hui, two years his junior, came out on top.

Kim had the best score in the qualification round and was awarded the gold when the final was canceled due to blustery conditions on Thursday.

After short track and speed skating races ended, figure skaters and curlers picked up the slack down the stretch.

Korea swept the men's and women's singles figure skating gold medals for the first time on Thursday.

Kim Chae-yeon captured the women's title with a personal-best score of 219.44 points, beating three-time world champion from Japan, Kaori Sakamoto, by nearly eight points with the best free skate of her career.

Then Cha Jun-hwan swooped in for the men's singles gold medal with 281.69 points, beating Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, by 8.93 points.

Cha Jun-hwan performs in the men's single free skating event at the Asian Winter Games held in Harbin, China on Thursday Feb. 13. [NEWS1]

Cha trailed Kagiyama by 9.72 points after the short program but put on a strong free skate program while Kagiyama faltered.

The women's curling team capped its undefeated run by beating China 7-2 for the gold medal on Friday, while the men's team took silver after losing to the Philippines.

Many of Korea's biggest stars in Harbin are either still in the prime of their careers or are so young that they have barely scratched the surface — which bodes well for the Winter Olympics in Italy next year.

Choi Min-jeong, the short tracker, is preparing for her third Olympics but is still just 26. Speed skater Kim Min-sun, the women's 500m champion in Harbin and a presumptive medal contender in that event in Italy, is 25. Cha Jun-hwan, the men's figure skating champion, is 23. All five members of the men's curling team were born in the 2000s, and Lee Jae-beom, the skip, is the oldest at 23.

Then there are teenagers who may not yet know how good they are, a group that features the 19-year-old speed skater Lee Na-hyun, a four-time medalist in Harbin, and the snowboard gold medal-winning duo of Lee Chae-un, 18, and Kim Geon-hui, 16. Figure skater Kim Chae-yeon already has an Asian Games gold and a world championship bronze medal at 18.

Yonhap