7 Gold Medals for Korea on First Day of Harbin Winter AG

Four Golds in Short Track
Gold Medals Also Won in Speed Skating, Freestyle Skiing, and Snowboard

On the first day of the Winter Asian Games held for the first time in 8 years, South Korea won 7 gold medals.

At the opening ceremony of the 9th Harbin Winter Asian Games held on the 7th at the Harbin International Convention and Exhibition Sports Center in China, South Korea won a total of 19 medals (7 gold, 5 silver, 7 bronze) on the 8th. They ranked second overall behind China (8 gold, 8 silver, 4 bronze).

On the 8th, Kim Gilli, Park Jiwon, and Kim Taeseong, who won the gold medal in the short track mixed 2,000m relay final at the Harbin Winter Asian Games held at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center Multipurpose Hall in Harbin, China, are celebrating while holding the Taegeukgi. Photo by Yonhap News

In short track, 4 gold medals were won. Starting with the gold medal in the mixed 2000m relay final (Kim Gilli, Park Jiwon, Kim Taeseong), gold medals were won by Kim Gilli (Seongnam City Hall) in the women's 1500m, Park Jiwon (Seoul City Hall) in the men's 1500m, and Choi Minjeong (Seongnam City Hall) in the women's 500m. The gold medal in the women's 500m, considered a weak event, was the first ever in the history of the Winter Asian Games. A meaningful scene unfolded as three Taegeukgi flags were raised on the podium with Kim Gilli and Lee Soyeon winning silver and bronze respectively in the women's 500m.

On the 8th, at the multipurpose hall of the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin, China, Choi Min-jeong, who won the gold medal, Kim Gil-ri, who won the silver medal, and Lee So-yeon, who won the bronze medal, are taking a commemorative photo at the award ceremony of the women's 500m final of the Harbin Winter Asian Games. Photo by Yonhap News.

In the men's 500m, Park Jiwon and Jang Seongwoo won silver and bronze respectively. The gold medal was claimed by Lin Shaojun (Korean name Im Hyojun), who naturalized to China after an unfortunate incident in 2019.

The golden run continued in speed skating. In the newly introduced 100m event, Lee Nahyun (Korea National Sport University) outran the short-distance star Kim Minseon (Uijeongbu City Hall) to take the top spot in the women's division.

On the 8th, Lee Na-hyun is sprinting in the women's 100m speed skating event held at the Speed Skating Oval of the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin, China. Photo by Yonhap News.

Two gold medals were also won at the Yabuli Ski Resort, where snow events were held. Lee Chaewoon (Surigo) won the gold medal in the men's snowboard slopestyle final with a score of 90 points, beating Liu Haoyu (China, 76 points). Kang Donghoon (Gorim High School) enjoyed the joy of winning the bronze medal (74 points).

Lee Chaewoon, who won Korea's first-ever gold medal in the men's snowboard halfpipe at the 2023 International Ski Federation (FIS) World Championships, won a gold medal in his first-ever Asian Games competition. Lee aims to win a double crown in his main event, the halfpipe, on the 12th and 13th.

Lee Seunghoon (Korea National Sport University) won Korea's first-ever gold medal in the freestyle ski halfpipe final with a score of 97.5 points. Moon Heeseong (Seorak High School, 88.5 points) and Jang Yujin (Korea University, 85 points) added bronze medals in the men's and women's ski halfpipe events respectively.

Kim Sohee (Seoul City Hall) won the silver medal in the women's alpine skiing slalom with a combined time of 1 minute 34.06 seconds in the first and second runs, finishing behind Maeda Chisaki (Japan, 1 minute 33.50 seconds).

Kim Kyungae (Gangneung City Hall) and Sung Jihun (Gangwon Provincial Office), who competed in mixed doubles curling, lost a close final match against Japan 5-6 and finished as runners-up.

In the cross-country sprint event, male athletes Lee Geonyong and Byun Jiyoung (both from Gyeonggi Provincial Office), Lee Jinbok and Lee Junseo (both from Dankook University), and female athletes Lee Eujin (Busan Sports Council), Lee Jiye (Pyeongchang County Office), and Han Dasom (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) participated but none advanced past the quarterfinals.