Lin Xiaojun Leaves Milan Olympics Empty-Handed After Quarterfinal Exits

Naturalized athletes who once wore the Korean flag but competed for other nations at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics suffered a series of disappointing results.

Lin Xiaojun, a Chinese short track speed skating national team member formerly known as Lim Hyo-jun in Korea, finished fourth in the men's 500m quarterfinal at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 19, failing to advance to the semifinals. He had also been eliminated in the quarterfinals of the men's 1,000m and 1,500m individual events earlier in the competition, ending his individual campaign without a medal.

Moon Won-jun, who naturalized to Hungary along with Kim, was eliminated from the men's short track 500m quarterfinal on Feb. 19 without completing his race. He was disqualified for a false start immediately after the starting gun. Moon was selected for the Korean team at the 2021 Lucerne Winter Universiade, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he lost his national team status the following year. After choosing to naturalize at the same time as Kim, he will have to wait for another opportunity.

Lin was the star of Korea's team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, winning gold in the men's 1,500m and bronze in the 500m. However, he received a one-year suspension from the Korea Skating Union in 2019 after becoming embroiled in a scandal and chose to move to China in 2020. He had hoped for a spectacular comeback through Chinese naturalization, but left the Olympic stage empty-handed eight years after his PyeongChang success.

Hungarian speed skating national team member Kim Min-seok finished 11th in the men's 1,000m on Feb. 12. Kim, who won bronze in the men's 1,500m and silver in team pursuit at PyeongChang 2018, and bronze in the 1,500m at Beijing 2022, was suspended for one year and six months by the Korea Skating Union after causing a drunk driving accident near the Jincheon National Training Center in 2022. He was later fined in court and received a two-year national team ban from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. He naturalized to Hungary in 2024 and competed in these Olympics.