Rim Jong-un of Korea and Jens van't Wout of Netherlands compete during men's 5000m relay semifinals in Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Monday. Reuters-Yonhap
MILAN — Korea advanced to the final of the men's 5,000-meter relay in short track speed skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday, moving closer to its first title in 20 years.
The quartet of Lee June-seo, Rim Jong-un, Lee Jeong-min and Shin Dong-min finished first in the second heat of the semifinals over the Netherlands. The top two teams from two groups progressed to the final, with Canada and Italy making it out of Heat 1.
The final will take place Friday.
Korea stayed in the back of the pack in the early stages of the 45-lap race at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Korea then moved up to second place with nine laps remaining.
Then with six laps to go, Lee Jeong-min made a deft inside pass to push Korea into the lead. The next man up, Shin Dong-min, pulled away from the pack, and Lee June-seo maintained the lead for Korea.
Rim then anchored Korea to first place by holding off the Dutch star Jens van 't Wout, who won both the 1,000m and 1,500m gold medals in Milan this month.
Korea's most recent men's relay title came at the previous Winter Games held in Italy, Turin 2006.
Rim will go for his second medal in Milan after taking the bronze in the 1,000m. Lee June-seo was a member of the silver medal-winning team at Beijing 2022. Lee Jeong-min and Shin are both going for their first Olympic medals.
Source: Korea Times News
