Kim Gil-li Wins Gold, Choi Min-jung Silver in Women's 1500m

Short track speed skater Kim Gil-li of Seongnam City Hall won the women's 1500m at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, becoming the first South Korean athlete to claim two gold medals at these Games.

Kim crossed the finish line first with a time of 2:32.076 in the women's 1500m final held at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy on February 21 (Korea time).

This marks South Korea's third gold medal at these Olympics, following Choi Ga-on of Sewha Girls' High School in women's snowboard halfpipe and the women's short track relay team that won the 3000m relay.

Kim collected three medals at these Games: gold in the women's 3000m relay, gold in the women's 1500m, and bronze in the women's 1000m.

Choi Min-jung of Seongnam City Hall fell short of becoming the first athlete to win this event three consecutive times but took silver with a time of 2:32.450, setting a new record for most Olympic medals by a South Korean athlete across both Summer and Winter Games with seven total, surpassing Jin Jong-oh (shooting), Kim Soo-nyung (archery), and Lee Seung-hoon (speed skating), who each have six.

Including the men's 5000m relay silver medal earlier in the day, South Korean short track added three medals on the final day, closing out the Olympics with two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals.

South Korea's medal run at these Games began on February 8 with Kim Sang-kyum of High1 winning silver in men's snowboard parallel giant slalom, followed by Yoo Seung-eun of Seongbok High School taking bronze in women's snowboard big air on February 10, Choi Ga-on winning women's snowboard halfpipe gold and Lim Jong-eon of Goyang City Hall claiming bronze in men's short track 1000m on February 13, Hwang Dae-heon of Gangwon Provincial Office earning silver in men's short track 1500m on February 15, Kim Gil-li winning bronze in women's short track 1000m on February 16, and the women's short track 3000m relay team taking gold on February 19.

Kim Gil-li's race was near perfect. She comfortably finished first in quarterfinal heat 1 and advanced to the final by winning semifinal heat 1 as well.

Meanwhile, strong contenders expected to compete for medals—including Courtney Sarault of Canada and Sandra Velzeboer and Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands—all fell in semifinal heat 2 and were eliminated, suddenly creating a favorable situation for South Korea.

Choi Min-jung, Kim's close senior teammate, also advanced through the rounds, finishing second in her quarterfinal and first in her semifinal, setting up two South Korean skaters to compete against each other in the final.

Both skaters employed the same strategy in the final, conserving energy at the back of the pack early in the race while watching for opportunities.

Choi made her move first. With seven laps remaining, she took the outside lane and pushed past the leaders with all her strength to secure second place behind Kristen Santos-Griswold of the United States.

Kim followed suit, cutting inside to move into third place. Santos-Griswold, who had led early in the race, appeared to tire and lost speed. Choi and Kim seized the opportunity.

With three laps to go, Choi held first place and Kim second. From there, it was a two-skater race.

With two laps remaining, "Lamborghil-li" Kim made her decisive move at blazing speed. She passed Choi on the straightaway to take the lead. Kim extended her gap over Choi on the final lap and crossed the finish line first.

After the race, the two skaters embraced and congratulated each other. Noh Do-hee of Hwaseong City Hall, who also competed in the event, was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Santos-Griswold took bronze. Italian short track legend Arianna Fontana finished fifth, failing in her bid for an additional medal.