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Athletes on South Korea’s women’s short track speedskating team wave to the crowd as they hold the national flag after winning silver in the 3,000-meter relay Sunday at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. (Yonhap News)

South Korea proved itself yet again as the foremost short track speedskating powerhouse in the world. Its recent accomplishments are valuable ones, earned by surmounting difficulties both internal and external. Still, signs of crisis that surfaced in the past few weeks remain as challenges to be resolved.

The South Korean short track team won two golds (men’s 1,500 meters, women’s 1,500 meters) and three silvers (men’s 5,000-meter relay, women’s 3,000-meter relay, women’s 1,000 meters) in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics — the best record out of all participating countries. Both the host country of China and the Netherlands fell short of beating South Korea’s record in short track speedskating with two golds, one silver, and one bronze medal each.

The most valuable player was none other than 24-year-old Choi Min-jeong. Winner of two gold medals during the Pyeongchang Olympics, Choi won her second straight Olympic gold in the women’s 1,500-meter race and also scored two silvers in the women’s 1,000-meter event and the women’s 3,000-meter relay. Her record this year is unmatched by any other athlete in the South Korean team.

Though South Korea failed to win its third consecutive Olympic gold in the women’s relay event, the country still won silver, which is not bad considering the relay team was finalized with only a month left until the Olympics due to various unforeseen circumstances.

South Korea’s men’s short track speedskating Olympic team waves to the crowd after coming in second in the 5,000-meter relay finals on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

The men outdid themselves as well. Pyeongchang silver medalist Hwang Dae-heon (23) skated to the gold in the 1,500-meter event, vindicating South Korea’s pride in short track speedskating, and South Korea also won silver in the men’s relay event — the first men’s relay medal in 12 years for the country since a silver in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Though South Korean male skaters this year didn’t live up to their predecessors’ record from Pyeongchang of one gold, one silver, and two bronzes, they did pretty well considering the lack of a home-field advantage, and the fact that Lim Hyo-jun, who scored one gold and one bronze in Pyeongchang, naturalized to China and now compete as Lin Xiaojun.

In truth, prospects looked bleak for the South Korean short track team before the Beijing Olympics began. Many skaters hadn’t participated in international competitions last season due to COVID-19, and the lack of practice in real sporting events led to sluggish performances in the International Skating Union Short Track Speed Skating World Cup this season.

Even more, Shim Suk-hee (25), who placed No. 1 in the nationals, was suspended from the South Korean team for violating its operational regulation for members concerning their “duty of good faith and maintenance of integrity.” This once again unveiled the problem of interpersonal conflict within the South Korean short track team, a chronic issue as pointed out by many others. On top of that, Kim Ji-yoo (23), No. 3 in the nationals, was injured and dropped out of the team. It was indeed misfortune after misfortune for the South Korean team.

South Korea’s Choi Min-jeong smiles as she celebrates winning gold in the women’s 1,500-meter short track speedskating event at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

What helped the team overcome these trials was the “one-team” mindset. Kwak Yoon-gy (33), who participated in the Olympics for the third time this year, said, “When you prepare for the Olympics, you do feel competitive at times, but this time, we all wanted the best outcome for each other.” Choi also said, “I think we were able to fulfill the idea that ‘South Korea is best in short track speedskating’ by doing our best together and getting good results.”

Nevertheless, there are challenges ahead to prepare for the Milan Olympics four years out. Though South Korea proved itself as a short track powerhouse this time, it’s also become evident that the sport has become more competitive in general, especially with European skaters who have leveled up their game.

Another thing to consider is how the International Skating Union is enforcing stricter rules on skaters overtaking other skaters. Though there are skaters like Hwang and Lee Yu-bin (21) who outpaced their competitors early on in a race, South Korean skaters mostly resort to overtaking other skaters at the tail end of a race, which makes them vulnerable to penalties.

South Korean short track speedskating also needs to consistently improve its internal culture. For this Olympics, the team wasn’t even able to appoint a head coach, as it was unable to find a candidate without a track record of past issues such as mismanagement of athletes. This shows how seriously entrenched in toxic culture South Korean short track speedskating has been.

By Lee Jun-hee, staff reporter

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