South Korea Advances to Women's 3000m Relay Final, Eyes Gold After 8 Years

"Ace" Choi Min-jung (Seongnam City Hall) delivered when it mattered most. The South Korean women's short track team advanced to the women's 3000m relay final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, powered by Choi's two come-from-behind surges.

Choi Min-jung, Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall), Lee So-yeon (Sports Toto), and Shim Suk-hee (Seoul City Hall) crossed the finish line first in semifinal heat 2 at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Italy on January 14 (local time), posting a time of 4:04.729 to secure one of the two spots per heat advancing to the final.

South Korea faced Canada, China, and Japan in the semifinal. Trailing Canada in second place through the midpoint, South Korea took the lead with 10 laps remaining when Choi launched her charge to overtake the Canadians.

However, third-leg skater Lee So-yeon was passed by China with six laps to go.

The race was decided with three laps remaining. Shim Suk-hee gave Choi a powerful push to build momentum, and Choi cut to the inside lane to reclaim first place.

Anchor Kim Gil-li then held off the chasing pack to cross the finish line first.

After the race, Choi said, "I trusted my teammates and we were able to show a good result. In the final, we will trust each other and do our best to show what we have prepared."

Canada overtook China in the final stretch to finish second and advance to the final.

In heat 1, the Netherlands and Italy finished first and second respectively to reach the final.

The medal-deciding women's 3000m relay final will be held on January 19 (Korea time). South Korea is targeting gold in this event for the first time since the 2018 PyeongChang Games. The team won silver at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.