MILAN — South Korea claimed three medals in short track speed skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Friday, with Kim Gil-li becoming the country's first double gold medalist of the competition.
On the last day of short track races in Milan, Kim, 21, held off teammate Choi Min-jeong for the gold in the women's 1,500 meters at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. Corinne Stoddard of the United States got the bronze behind the two South Koreans.
Kim and Choi started the 14-lap race in the middle of the pack before speeding past multiple skaters over the late stretch. Choi briefly held the lead, but Kim sped past her on the 13th lap and crossed the line first.
Kim earlier won gold in the 3,000m relay and bronze in the 1,000m.
Choi came up just shy of becoming the first short tracker ever to win three consecutive gold medals in the same individual race. However, Choi still became the most decorated Olympian for South Korea by pushing her career medal totals to seven.
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
Earlier in the evening, the quartet of Rim Jong-un, Lee Jeong-min, Lee June-seo and Hwang Dae-heon won the silver medal in the men's 5,000m relay, behind the Netherlands and ahead of Italy.
It was Hwang's late spurt as the anchor that pushed South Korea into the silver medal position over the final corner.
Hwang, the 1,500m silver medalist, and Rim, the 1,000m bronze medalist, each finished the competition here with two medals apiece.
Source: Korea Times News
