Veteran speed skater trusting his work ahead of 4th Winter Games
Published: 05 Feb. 2026, 09:41
![Korean speed skater Kim Jun-ho participates in a test run for the men's 500 meters ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in Milan on Feb. 4. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/05/884232f3-87bd-4543-9854-bbf64d03db3a.jpg)
Korean speed skater Kim Jun-ho participates in a test run for the men's 500 meters ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in Milan on Feb. 4. [YONHAP]
Gearing up for his fourth and likely final Winter Olympics in northern Italy, veteran speed skater Kim Jun-ho feels he is in a good place.
"I think I've become a lot stronger mentally," Kim said after a test run in the men's 500-meter event at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in Milan on Wednesday. "This isn't my first Olympics. It's already my fourth and I am much more at ease with myself."
That hasn't always been the case for the 30-year-old Kim, who has at times let his nerves get the best of him. His mental struggles partly explain why he hasn't yet won an Olympic medal despite obvious talent. He came the closest at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where he placed sixth but ended up just 0.04 seconds back of the bronze medal winner from Japan, Wataru Morishige.
Kim, who admitted in January that he had been working with a mental coach, said Thursday he is ready to prove he is a different skater now.
"I trust the work I've put in and I trust myself," Kim said. "I don't think I am going to waver. That's how hard I've been working and I will leave it all on the ice."
The men's 500 meters is scheduled for Feb. 14, and Kim and 21 other sprinters participated in a trial race Wednesday. They skated in 11 pairs to resemble the competition setting, though several of them chose to work only on their starts and slowed down after the first corner.
Kim, who went at nearly full speed, clocked 35.39 seconds. It was still far off his national record time of 33.78 seconds, set in November 2025, and Kim said he will try to improve his time in the early portion of the race.
"I tried to mentally prepare myself for this as if it were an actual Olympic race, but once I got here, I felt a little relaxed because it was just a test event after all," Kim said. "I was pleased with some aspects of the race and not so much with some other parts. I've been trying to add some strength lately and I think that has cost me some explosiveness at the start. So I will have to work on that over the next 10 days."
As for the ice condition at this temporary venue built inside the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition hall, Kim said, "I am still getting used to it. The ice may not be perfect now but I think it should continue to get better as we move closer to the competition."
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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