Lim Jong-eon Wins Bronze in Short Track 1000m at Milan-Cortina 2026

Lim Jong-eon, the 18-year-old ace and youngest member of Korea's short track speed skating team, claimed the country's first short track medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Lim crossed the finish line third in the men's 1000m final at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 12 local time, clocking 1:24.611 behind Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands and Sun Long of China to secure the bronze medal.

Lim's bronze marks Korea's fourth medal at these Games, following Kim Sang-kyeom's silver in men's parallel giant slalom snowboard, Yoo Seung-eun's bronze in women's big air snowboard, and Choi Ga-on's gold in women's halfpipe snowboard.

It is also Korea's first medal in ice sports at the Games.

Lim delivered dramatic comeback performances throughout the competition. In quarterfinal heat 4, he trailed in fourth place with two laps remaining before overtaking rivals on the final lap to finish second behind Van 't Wout and advance to the semifinals.

The semifinals followed a similar pattern. Lim remained in fourth until four laps to go, then swung wide to the outside lane with two laps remaining and surged into second place.

On the final lap, he passed Van 't Wout, who had been leading, to finish first and advance to the final.

The comeback drama continued in the final. Running in last place, Lim moved to the outside lane on the final lap, overtook Roberts Kruzbergs of Latvia in the first corner to climb to fourth, then passed William Dandjinou of Canada in the final corner to cross the finish line in third.

Shin Dong-min, who also competed in the event, finished fifth in semifinal heat 1 before placing third in the B final.