Rim Jong-un celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the men's 1,000-meter short track speed skating event at the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Feb. 12. Yonhap

MILAN — Short track speed skater Rim Jong-un found himself getting more nervous than usual ahead of his Winter Olympic debut in Italy this week, and then he realized the support he'd been getting from his friends, coaches and family.

The 18-year-old reminded himself that he had to go back to trusting himself again, and he used that self-belief to win the bronze medal in the men's 1,000 meters at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Thursday.

"I wanted to trust myself more and skate the way I am capable of skating," Rim said. "I thought to myself, 'I have so many people who believe in me, and what am I doing here doubting myself?'

"I was feeling the weight of the Olympic Games, and it brought down my energy level a bit," Rim continued. "But when I got up this morning, I reminded myself that I am still young, and I should have plenty more opportunities after this. So I wanted to just go out there and leave everything out on the ice. I think it led to this good result."

Rim found himself in fifth place among the five finalists with two laps left in the nine-lap competition and then turned on a jet over the final corner for the nail-biting finish.

Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands won the gold in 1:24.537, and Sun Long of China got the silver in 1:24.565. Rim's time was 1:24.611.

"The one thing I kept in mind before the race was that I wasn't going to panic no matter who took the lead early on," Rim said. "I was going to trust my ability to make my move on the outside."

After Rim won the senior national team trials last spring, he had told reporters that he thought he would smile after winning his first Olympic medal. But he admitted tears came first, though he made sure to turn away from cameras when he became emotional.

"I was a bit embarrassed," Rim said sheepishly. "I was just grateful for all the people who've helped me along the way, even when I wanted to give it all up. And I was also proud of myself. This feels like a great reward for all the hard work."

Source: Korea Times News