Choi Min-jeong of South Korea, left, congratulates teammate Kim Gil-li after Kim won the gold medal in the women's 1,500-meter short track speed skating event at the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Feb. 20. Choi won the silver medal. Yonhap
MILAN — Short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong became South Korea's most decorated Olympian on Friday in Milan, where she captured her seventh career medal.
Choi took the silver medal behind her teammate Kim Gil-li in the women's 1,500 meters at Milano Ice Skating Arena.
It was Choi's second medal in Milan, following the gold in the women's 3,000m relay on Wednesday.
Choi, 27, was trying to become the first short track speed skater ever to win three consecutive gold medals in the same individual race. Though she didn't accomplish that, Choi still made a piece of history.
With her seventh medal, Choi pulled away from former shooter Jin Jong-oh, ex-archer Kim Soo-nyung and speed skater Lee Seung-hoon, who each won six medals in Olympic Games, on the all-time South Korean leaderboard.
Choi started her Olympic career by winning the women's 1,500m and the 3,000m relay gold medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. Four years later in Beijing, Choi repeated as the 1,500m champion while adding silver medals in the 1,000m and the 3,000m relay.
Choi's third Olympics began on a sour note in Milan. In her first race, the mixed team relay, South Korea crashed out of the semifinals when Kim Gil-li got tripped up by Corinne Stoddard of the United States. In individual races, Choi didn't reach the finals either in the 500m or in the 1,000m.
Choi finally picked up her first medal in Italy with the relay gold and then added the silver on Friday.
The list of Choi's international accomplishments is long and impressive. On top of her Olympic golds, Choi has won 24 medals at world championships, including 17 gold medals. She has been the overall world champion three times.
Source: Korea Times News
