South Korea’s men’s short track team is training with one goal: gold in the 5,000-meter relay final. Team captain Lee Jun-seo said he is ready to do his part in the title bid.
Lee spoke after training on Feb. 19 at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy.
As captain, Lee has helped set the tone ahead of the final, scheduled for early Feb. 21 in Korea. Asked about tactics, he said he could not share details because it would reveal the team’s plan. Still, he added, “If I race, I’ll push my teammates with everything I have and help our gold-medal challenge.”
At 182 centimeters (about 6 feet), Lee is expected to take on the “push man” role — the skater who drives a teammate forward during exchanges to build speed.
“We’ve trained countless times, so I’m confident in our teamwork,” Lee said. “We know each other’s roles and strengths well, so I think we can produce a good result in the final.”
South Korea’s men have had mixed results at these Games, with Hwang Dae-heon winning silver in the 1,500 meters and the team taking bronze in the 1,000.
Lee said a relay win would erase that disappointment. “We started with Jong-eon’s bronze, then Dae-heon won gold, and now it’s our turn to win gold,” he said. He added that South Korea should skate with confidence because it won the most gold medals in the men’s 5,000 relay on the 2025-2026 International Skating Union World Tour. The team won two gold medals across World Tour events 1 through 4 and ranked No. 1 in the world standings.
South Korea has not won Olympic relay gold since the 2006 Turin Games. The team will try to end that drought in the final early Feb. 21.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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