South Korea’s women’s short track team came up empty in the 500 meters at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, with star Choi Min Jung failing to reach the final after a collision in the semifinals.
Choi (Seongnam City Hall) finished fifth out of five in semifinal heat 2 at the Milan Ice Skating Arena, clocking 43.060 on Friday (Korea time).
After advancing comfortably by winning her quarterfinal, Choi got off to a strong start in the semifinal and led until three laps remained, appearing on track for a final berth.
But after Canada’s Kim Boutin closed in, Choi became tangled with Canadians Courtney Sarault and Florence Brunelle on the final lap, lost her balance and dropped to last.
Officials reviewed the contact on video but assessed no penalty to the Canadian skaters, leaving Choi to move to the B final (classification race). She later placed second in the classification race.
Kim Gil Li (Seongnam City Hall) and Lee So Yeon (Sports Toto) were eliminated earlier in the quarterfinals.
In the final, Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands won in 41.609.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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