Kim Yunji, a 19-year-old rising star in South Korean para sports, added a silver medal on Tuesday to set a new national record for the most medals won by a South Korean athlete at a single Winter Paralympics.
Kim finished second in the women’s 10-kilometer interval start cross-country skiing race at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics, clocking 26 minutes, 51.6 seconds at the Tesero Cross-Country Stadium in Italy. Oksana Masters of the United States won gold.
The result gave Kim one gold and two silvers at these Games, the most by a South Korean athlete at one Winter Paralympics. The previous mark was set by Shin Eui-hyun at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games with one gold and one bronze.
Kim earlier won South Korea’s first Winter Paralympic gold medal by a female athlete in the women’s 12.5-kilometer individual biathlon and also took silver in the cross-country sprint.
South Korea has four medals so far at these Games, including Kim’s three and a bronze by snowboarder Lee Je-hyeok. In wheelchair curling, the mixed doubles team of Baek Hye-jin and Lee Yong-seok has reached the final, guaranteeing at least a silver medal.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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