Korean short track speed skaters Hwang Dae-heon, left, and Choi Min-jeong, center, carry the Korean national flag to lead the way for the Korean delegation at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, upon its return from the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Tuesday. Yonhap
The main group of Korean athletes who competed at the Winter Olympics in Italy returned home Tuesday after meeting the country's gold medal target.
Korea finished the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, which concluded Sunday, with three gold medals, four silver medals and three bronze medals, good for 13th place in the medal race. Korea had set out to win at least one more gold medal than the two it had taken home from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and accomplished that mission thanks to a late push by its short track speed skaters.
And those short trackers led the delegation that arrived at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, on Tuesday after combining to win seven of Korea's 10 medals.
Kim Gil-li was Korea's only double gold medalist, as she captured the women's 1,500-meter title and anchored the country to the women's 3,000m relay gold medal. She added a bronze in the 1,000m and finished as the first Korean short tracker to win at least three medals in an Olympic debut in 12 years. Kim was voted by Korean journalists covering the competition as the MVP of the delegation.
Korean short track speed skater Kim Gil-li wears her two gold medals and one bronze medal won during the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic after arriving at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Another short track speed skater, Choi Min-jeong, became the most decorated Korean Olympic athlete with seven career medals. She won the 3,000m relay gold and the 1,500m silver medal behind Kim.
The men's short track team won silver in the 5,000m relay, while two relay members also won individual medals — with Hwang Dae-heon taking silver in the 1,500m and Rim Jong-un grabbing bronze in the 1,000m.
Korea's three other medals came from snowboard — Choi Gaon's gold in the women's halfpipe, Kim Sang-kyum's silver in the men's parallel giant slalom, and Yu Seung-eun's bronze in the women's big air. The snowboarders returned home earlier this month after their competition ended.
Korea Sport & Olympic Committee President Ryu Seung-min flew back with the short trackers, alongside Korea Skating Union President Lee Soo-kyung, who was the country's chef de mission during the Olympics.
Source: Korea Times News
