South Korea’s three women’s short track skaters all cleared the opening round of the 500 meters.
Choi Min Jeong and Kim Gil Ri of Seongnam City Hall, along with Lee So Yeon of Sports Toto, advanced to the quarterfinals on Monday (Korea time) in the women’s 500m heats at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy.
Kim placed second in Heat 2 in 43.301 seconds, holding the No. 2 spot behind Canada’s Courtney Sarault from the early laps.
Choi finished second in Heat 6 in 43.204. She moved to the lead early on the inside line but slipped slightly on the final curve and gave up first place to Belgium’s Hanne Desmet, still advancing comfortably.
Lee advanced in Heat 7 after starting last in the four-skater field. She moved up when Alena Krylova, skating as a neutral athlete (AIN) and described as Russian-born, fell. Lee finished third and ranked fourth among the eight third-place finishers by time to claim a quarterfinal berth. In the 500m, the top two in each heat and the four fastest third-place skaters advance.
The women’s 500m final is scheduled for Feb. 13.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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