Park Ji-won and Jang Sung-woo won the silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's 500m short track event at the 2025 Harbin Winter Asian Games held on the 8th at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center Multipurpose Hall in Harbin, China. The gold medal was claimed by Luan Xiaojun (Korean name Im Hyo-jun), who was active in Korea before naturalizing as a Chinese citizen.
The final race was a showdown between Korea and China. Korea was represented by Park Ji-won, Kim Tae-sung, and Jang Sung-woo, while China fielded Luan Xiaojun and Sun Long.
Due to intense competition, the race was restarted twice. In the first race, the event was canceled after the athletes fell before even completing the first corner. In the second race, the event was canceled again when four athletes, starting with Luan Xiaojun, fell one after another on the second lap.
After the second cancellation, Kim Sung-tae was disqualified, and the race ultimately proceeded with four athletes competing.
In the early stages, two Chinese athletes surged to the front. With one and a half laps remaining, Park Ji-won cut inside and overtook both Chinese skaters simultaneously to take the lead. However, Luan Xiaojun regained the lead after half a lap and maintained his pace to cross the finish line first.
Korea took four out of the five gold medals contested in short track that day. They had previously swept the 2000m mixed relay, men's and women's 1500m, and women's 500m events.
Choi Min-jung, Kim Gilli, and Park Ji-won each won two gold medals. Notably, Choi Min-jung became the first in Korean short track history to win a gold medal in the women's 500m at the Winter Asian Games.
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