Speed Skating: Lee Nahyeon Finishes 10th in Main 500 m Event... Kim Minsun 14th

In women's speed skating, Lee Nahyeon and Kim Minsun finished 10th and 14th respectively in their main event, the 500 m.

Lee Nahyeon placed 10th with a time of 37.86 seconds in the women's 500 m at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, held at the Milan Speed Skating Stadium in Milan, Italy, on the 16th (Korea time).

Lee Nahyun is racing in the women's 500 m at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on the 16th (Korea time) at the Milan Speed Skating Stadium in Italy. Photo by Yonhap News

Racing in the inner lane of the 13th pair alongside Karolina Gasecka-Nogal of Poland, Lee Nahyeon passed the first 100 m segment in 10.47 seconds, the 8th-fastest time overall. She was 0.20 seconds slower than Gasecka-Nogal in their race. After that, Lee was unable to sufficiently pick up speed, the gap with Nogal widened, and she finished the race.

Kim Minsun had competed earlier in the inner lane of the 10th pair with Serena Pergher of Italy. Kim passed the 100 m segment in 10.61 seconds, the 21st-fastest time overall, 0.08 seconds slower than Pergher in their race. Kim improved her position over the remaining 400 m, but she was unable to close the gap with Pergher and completed the race.

The gold medal went to Femke Kok of the Netherlands, who holds the 500 m world record of 36.09 seconds. Kok set a new Olympic record with a time of 36.49 seconds. The silver medal went to her compatriot Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, who clocked 37.15 seconds. In the earlier 1000 m, Leerdam had won gold and Kok silver. The bronze medal in the 500 m went to Miho Takagi of Japan, who recorded 37.27 seconds. Having also taken bronze in the 1000 m, Takagi claimed the ninth Olympic medal of her career.