BEIJING– Choi Min-jeong successfully defended her gold medal in the women’s 1,500m short track speed skating race in Beijing on Tuesday, earning her third medal in the Chinese capital in her final race here.
Choi defeated Arianna Fontana of Italy for gold at Capital Indoor Stadium. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands earned the bronze.
Choi came across the line in 2:17.789, and Fontana did so in 2:17.862. Schulting was only 0.003 second back for third place.
This was South Korea’s second gold medal from short track at Beijing 2022 and its second gold medal overall, too.
Choi had earlier won silver medals in the 1,000m and the 3,000m relay in Beijing.
With five career medals, Choi has tied three others for most Winter Olympic medals by a South Korean athlete. Former short trackers Chun Lee-kyung and Park Seung-hi, and active speed skater Lee Seung-hoon have all won five medals each.
One other South Korean in the 1,500m final, Lee Yu-bin, finished in sixth place.
The short track competition concluded with South Korea having captured two gold and three silver medals. Its five total medals led all countries, one ahead of China, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada.
Choi and Lee assumed first and second place early in the race. Han Yutong of China burst out of the pack and charged out way in front of everyone with 11 laps left in the 13 1/2-lap competition. But she couldn’t coax anyone else into joining her that early in the race.
As Han gradually lost her steam, Schulting took the lead. The two Koreans appeared content to stay in the back.
Choi then made her patented move on the outside to take the lead with eight laps to go. Lee moved up to fourth with five laps remaining, though it was Choi, Han and Schulting setting the pace.
The pattern held for a bit, and Choi kicked into a higher gear down the stretch. Fontana was now in the mix, and Schulting was right there, too.
But after finishing behind Schulting in both the 1,000m final and the 3,000m relay final, Choi didn’t have anyone in front of her this time. The usually reticent one had a rare display of emotions, pumping both fists and screaming for joy.
Source: Yonhap News Agency