. Gilly Kim (18, Seo Hyeon-go), who felt the junior competition was too small, showed her presence.
Kim Gil-ri participated in the women’s 1500m 2nd race final of the 2022-2023 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup 5th Competition held at the Joy Next Arena in Dresden, Germany on the 5th (local time), recording a record of 2 minutes 38 seconds 406 with a gold medal around his neck. It is her second gold medal in her individual event this season after her second event in the 1500 m in Salt Lake City, USA.
Shim Seok-hee (Seoul City Hall, 2:38:815), who competed in the final with Kim Gil-li, won a bronze medal. She made up for her regret after finishing fourth in the 1000m final the day before with a 1500m bronze medal for the second consecutive event following the 4th event (Almaty, Kazakhstan).
Gilly Kim and Jiwon Park…
Gilly Kim and Sukhee Shim of Korea, who swept the 1500m, watched the movements of the runners in front and behind at the beginning of the race. With 10 and a half laps to go, Kim Gil-ri, who came out on the out-course, climbed to the top and gradually increased her speed. Shim Suk-hee, who moved together, also rose to the top.
Kim Gil-ri is the only player who survived the fierce competition to the extent that the rankings changed in seconds. With two laps to go, Kim Gil-ri, who rose to second place, overtook Ana Seidel (Germany) on the last lap and rose to first place, completing the reverse electrode.
Kim Gil-ri, who conquered the junior stage by winning three gold medals in the women’s 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m relay at the World Junior Short Track Championships held in Dresden, Germany last month, continued her upward trend in her senior competition.
Shim Suk-hee, who stayed in the bottom of her ranks, also won the bronze medal in third place. At the end of the race, Haner Desmert (Belgium), Christine Santos-Griswald (USA), and Selma Fautzma (Netherlands) fell all at once and rose to third place at once, and the race was over.
In the men’s 1500m second race, Park Ji-won (Seoul City Hall, 2:18:263) smiled widely. Park Ji-won, who overtook Lee Won-lung (China) by overtaking Lee Won-lung (China) on the in-course with four laps left, did not lose the lead until the end. Despite the fierce pursuit of Sinky Knecht (Netherlands, 2:18:274), who tried to dig into the in-course, she finished first with a difference of 0.011 seconds.
Park Ji-won, who won two gold medals following the previous day’s 1000m, proved her qualification as the ‘No. With this, Korea swept all four gold medals in the 1500m 1st and 2nd races, from Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall) and Lee Jun-seo (Korea National Sport University) on the 4th to Kim Gil-ri and Park Ji-won on the 5th.
The Netherlands and Canada failed… Bronze medal in women’s relay
Choi Min-jeong (43.343 seconds) in the women’s 500m final won a valuable bronze medal. Choi Min-jung, who started from the outermost lane (lane 5), overcame Currin Stoddard (USA) and rose to 4th place, then overtook Natalia Malysevska (Poland) and Zandra Belzebourg (Netherlands) to take 2nd place. However, she passed for third place as she lost second place to Beelzebubure at the end of the race.
Kim Tae-seong (Dankook University), who reached the men’s 500m final, failed to qualify for the medals. Kim Tae-seong, who started in lane 2 and came in 4th, was disqualified after being pointed out by the judges for not giving space to Steven Dubois (Canada) during the struggle. Lin Xiaojun (Chinese/Korean name Lim Hyo-jun), who was assigned to lane 3, tasted her first gold medal on the World Cup stage after changing her nationality. 안전놀이터
In the women’s relay 3000m final, which was the final schedule for the national team, she finished the race in 3rd place (4:08:238) following the Netherlands (gold medal) and Canada (silver medal). With 24 laps left, the national team, which was twisted in the touchdown process, was unable to move forward due to the pressure from the Chinese players and stayed in the bottom ranks throughout the game. However, Choi Min-jung, the last runner, succeeded in reclaiming third place and was able to stand on the podium.
While the national team made remarkable achievements in the individual event, the report card in the relay event leaves much to be desired. She was disqualified in the semifinals of the men’s 5000m relay and won silver and bronze medals in the 2000m mixed relay and 3000m women’s relay respectively.
After finishing this tournament with 5 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and 4 bronze medals, Korea will immediately hold the 6th tournament (Dordrecht, Netherlands, February 10-12). It is the last World Cup competition to be held ahead of the World Championships (March, Seoul, Korea).