S. Korea captures 3 medals on final day of Short Track World Tour on home ice

The host country South Korea collected three medals on the final day of the International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup in Seoul on Sunday.

The mixed relay team got the ball rolling by soaring to the gold medal in the day’s first final at Mokdong Ice Rink. The quartet of Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-li, Kim Tae-sung and Park Ji-won finished the 2,000-meter race in 2:38.036, narrowly beating China (2:38.051). Canada took the bronze in 2:38.513.

This was South Korea’s first relay gold medal of this World Tour season.

After staying back over the first half of the 18-lap race, South Korea moved into the lead on the 10th lap and stayed there the rest of the way, as Park Ji-won, the South Korean anchor who had given the team the lead earlier, held off China’s Liu Shaoang at the finish line.

“This was our first mixed relay title in a long time, and we were able to put together a flawless race,” Choi said afterward. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to build on this momentum and keep winning medals in the mixed relay.”

Park let out a primal scream and celebrated with extra gusto after anchoring South Korea to the gold.

“There’s a type of exhilaration you can only feel after winning relays,” Park said. “And I got to enjoy that feeling today for the first time in quite a while. And I think this should give us confidence going forward.”

The relay gold was Kim Gil-li’s second gold at Mokdong, following her 1,000m title from Saturday.

She couldn’t add to her tally in the 1,500m final later in the day, as she finished in sixth place. Choi ended in fourth place after briefly leading the pack early in the 14-lap race.

Kim still finished as the first South Korean to win multiple gold medals at a World Tour event this season. Kim later ranked fourth in the women’s 500m as the lone South Korean in the final.

Jang Sung-woo won bronze in the men’s 1,000m, with teammate Park Ji-won finishing fourth.

With three laps to go, Park was in second place, neck-and-neck with the eventual winner from Canada, William Dandjinou. But Jens van’t Wout of the Netherlands passed Park on the next lap before Jang did the same over the final stretch.

Jang and Park then combined for the bronze medal in the men’s 5,000m relay, along with teammates Kim Tae-sung and Park Jang-hyuk.

South Korea led through the first 33 laps of the 45-lap race, before China moved ahead in the next lap. Two laps later, Park Jang-hyuk pushed Kim too hard in the exchange, causing his teammate to fall as South Korea fell to third place.

With Italy having also fallen earlier in the race, South Korea managed to cross the line in third place.

On Saturday, South Korea had picked up one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

This was the fourth leg of the World Tour, which will resume in February with a stop in the Netherlands and conclude later that month in Italy.

Top South Korean skaters will miss the fifth leg, scheduled for Feb. 8 and 9, because they will compete at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, from Feb. 9 to 11.

It will most likely cost both Park and Kim Gil-li a chance to defend their Crystal Globe as the men’s and women’s overall points leaders.

Each individual victory is worth 100 points and a runner-up finish is good for 80 points, and so forth.

After the Seoul event, Park, who also won the inaugural Crystal Globe in the 2022-2023 season, is in second place with 586 points, with Dandjinou leading the way at 912 points thanks to two gold medals in Seoul. Van’t Wout is in third with 580 points.

Park, 28, said his focus for the rest of the season will be on timely recovery after races.

“I am not getting any younger and I have been paying attention to every bit of detail, from my sleeping patterns to my diet,” Park said. “That’s how I’ve been able to stay competitive so far. And I know I have to be stronger to compete against skaters from around the world.”

Kim is now in third place with 692 points. Kristen Santos-Griswold is leading the way at 738 points, 10 ahead of Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands. Choi is in fourth with 682 points.

“I will try my best to stay in the hunt until the end,” Kim said of her Crystal Globe chase.