Gold in the women's 1500m and 3000m relay
"Next-generation ace" Kim Gilli collects two golds and one bronze
Choi Minjeong, Hwang Daeheon, and Im Jongen also win two medals each
On the final day of competition, Korean short track added three more medals, finishing its 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics campaign with a total of seven medals, the most since the 2010 Vancouver Games.
On the final day of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics short track events on the 21st (Korean time), the Korean short track team added one gold medal and two silver medals.
In the women's 1500m, Kim Gilli and Choi Minjeong won the gold and silver medals, respectively, and the men's national team also captured its second consecutive Olympic silver medal in the 5000m relay.
By becoming a double champion, Kim Gilli hung her third medal of this Games around her neck, cementing her status as the next-generation ace of women's short track.
Kim Gilli (center) and Choi Minjeong (left) pose for a commemorative photo with American Kerrin Stoddard, who won the bronze medal at the women's 1500m short track medal ceremony of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, held on the 21st (Korean time) at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy. Photo by Yonhap News
Although Choi Minjeong fell short of becoming the first athlete in short track history to win three consecutive Olympic individual titles, she claimed her seventh Olympic medal and became South Korea's most decorated Olympian across both the Summer and Winter Games. At the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, she became a double champion by winning gold in the 1500m and the 3000m relay. She then successfully defended her 1500m title at the 2022 Beijing Games and added silver medals in the 1000m and 3000m relay. With a total of seven Olympic medals - four gold and three silver - she surpassed Kim Soonyoung in archery (four gold, one silver, one bronze; six total medals), Jin Jongoh in shooting (four gold, two silver; six total medals), and Lee Seung-hoon in speed skating (two gold, three silver, one bronze; six total medals) to become South Korea's all-time leading Olympic medalist across both the Summer and Winter Games.
Earlier, the Korean short track team won gold in the women's 3000m relay. Kim Gilli also took bronze in the women's 1000m, giving her three medals at these Games alone. Hwang Daeheon won silver in the men's 1500m, and Im Jong-eon, the next-generation ace of the men's national team, claimed bronze in the 1000m.
As a result, Korean short track concluded the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with two gold medals, three silver medals, and three bronze medals. The total of seven medals is tied with the Netherlands (five gold, one silver, one bronze) for the most in short track at these Games.
Compared with the 2022 Beijing Games (two gold, three silver), Korea added two more bronze medals. The seven medals are the most since the Vancouver Games, where the team collected eight (two gold, four silver, two bronze). Korean short track won five medals at the 2014 Sochi Games (two gold, one silver, two bronze) and six at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games (three gold, one silver, three bronze).
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.

