South Korea’s Jeong Jae-won, a leading long-distance speed skater, finished fifth in the men’s mass start at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics and said he will prepare even harder for the next Games.
Jeong placed fifth in the final held at the Milan speed skating stadium on Saturday (Korea time).
Midway through the race, Jorrit Berghsma of the Netherlands and Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark increased the pace and broke away. Jeong, skating in the trailing group, could not close the gap. Berghsma won gold and Thorup took silver, with Jeong crossing the line in fifth.
“It was a strategy we used a few times in the World Cup, so I thought I needed to latch on after the middle,” Jeong told reporters. “I tried to respond depending on the situation rather than forcing it, but it ended up being a disappointing result.”
With no medal in the final, Jeong failed to win a medal at a third straight Olympics. He earned silver in the men’s team pursuit at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and won silver in the men’s mass start at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Jeong also said he felt the absence of Lee Seung-hoon, who competed with him at PyeongChang. Jeong, then a second-year student at Dongbuk High School, won team pursuit silver with Lee in 2018.
“I was able to produce good results by sharing a lot of thoughts with Seung-hoon and learning his know-how,” Jeong said. “Without him at this competition, I don’t think I was able to prepare that way.”
He added, “I really felt his absence and realized a lot. I’ll build more experience so I can become someone like him in the future.”
Looking ahead to the 2030 Alps Olympics, Jeong said he would raise his level of preparation. “I thought I worked harder than anyone for this competition, but looking back, that was my own misconception,” he said. “I’ll prepare even more intensely until the next Olympics.”
Jeong also noted that his wife attended the race. “She’s been through a lot,” he said. “I’m sorry and disappointed I couldn’t put a medal around the neck of my wife, who has been my support.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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