INCHEON– Having completed a successful World Cup season, South Korean short track speed skater Park Ji-won said Tuesday it felt great to be back on the international short track map and on the radar of his rivals.
Park returned home with the spanking new Crystal Globe Trophy, after capturing the overall title for the 2022-2023 International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track Speed Skating season. On the strength of 14 gold medals, Park collected 1,068 points over six World Cup events.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the World Cup, the ISU created the Crystal Globe Trophy, and Park became its inaugural recipient on the men’s side.
It was his second career World Cup overall title, following the first one from the 2019-2020 season. He had been on and off the national team over the intervening years, and Park said he felt vindicated to be back on top.
“I spent the past two to three years on the periphery, and I wanted to prove to people that I had prepared myself for this moment,” Park told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “Maybe skaters from outside Korea forgot about me, and I wanted them to take notice and remember my name.”
Park, 26, had mostly been in the shadows of Hwang Dae-heon and Lim Hyo-jun. Park had come up short in Olympic team trials for both 2018 and 2022, where Lim and Hwang emerged as household names with gold medals.
This season, Hwang is not competing internationally after sitting out the national team trials last year. Lim is now skating for China as Lin Xiaojun. And this World Cup season became Park’s world, and everyone else just lived in it.
“When I got my hands on this trophy, I felt many different emotions,” Park said. “Every race from the World Cup came flooding back to me, whether it was a breezy race or a difficult one. It was a tough but an ultimately rewarding season.”
Park can put the icing on the cake at the world championships next month in Seoul. His first world championships appearance also came in Seoul seven years ago.
“Whether I win one gold medal or 14 gold medals, every title feels great,” Park said. “I want to win as many gold medals as I can.”
The next Winter Olympic Games are three years away, at which time Park will be 29 — practically ancient in the deep South Korean short track talent pool, often dominated by those in their early 20s. The late-blooming Park, though, isn’t about to give up on his hopes.
“It’s every athlete’s dream to compete at an Olympic Games,” he said. “Not everyone gets to realize that. But if I keep working hard next season and beyond, then I should have an opportunity to realize my dream.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency