South Korea’s Olympic team held a wrap-up news conference to review its results at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics and outline sport-by-sport priorities.
Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, and head of delegation Lee Soo-kyung attended the news conference Feb. 22 (Korea time) at Korea House in Milan. South Korea won three gold, four silver and three bronze medals, improving on its Beijing results of two gold, five silver and two bronze.
Yoo cited meeting the team’s goal of three gold medals and said a full set of medals in snowboarding — one gold, one silver and one bronze — helped reduce the team’s heavy reliance on ice sports.
He also pointed to poor training conditions as a key task going forward. Yoo said South Korea’s first Olympic gold in snowboarding was achieved through overseas training despite lacking basic facilities at home, such as a dedicated air mat, and called for policy-level support for facilities and budgets beyond what individual federations can provide. He also pledged a more detailed support system for speed skating, biathlon and cross-country skiing.
Lee, who is also president of the Korea Skating Union, reviewed the performance of the national ice teams and said training methods and infrastructure need to be strengthened.
Lee said the short track team showed signs of declining stamina as the competition went on despite strong technical ability, and said she plans to discuss training options with the athletes’ village within a framework that respects athletes’ rights. On speed skating, she cited limits of individualized training and problems caused by not reflecting European training conditions, and called for improving the poor domestic environment — including having only one speed skating rink — and for broader talks on systematic athlete development.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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