As expected, Choi Min-jeong (25, Seongnam City Hall).
Choi Min-jung, the signboard of Korean women’s short track, showed off her strong presence. This season, she won her first individual gold medal at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Series. On the 4th (hereafter local time) in Dresden, Germany, she finished first, recording 2 minutes 26 seconds 536 in the women’s 1500m first race final of the 5th competition of the 2022-2023 ISU Short Track World Cup. She beat USA’s Christine Santos-Griswald (2:26:570) by a narrow margin. Third place went to Courtney Saro of Canada. She marked 2:26.591.
◆ Condition
Choi Min-jeong-pyo in good condition It was a stage where we could get a glimpse of her skillful game management. Early in the race, Choi Min-jeong saw her chance, maintaining her mid-table position. She calmly focused on continuing her own race. It is a different picture from Kim Boutin (Canada) and others who were in the lead from the beginning. It was only from the point she had 4 laps left that she started to increase her speed. She hit out of course. She took the lead with two laps to go and crossed the finish line intact. Kim Kun-hee (Dankook University), who she competed with, recorded 954 in 2 minutes 26 seconds. This is a record of 5.
This is the first individual gold medal of the season. Choi Min-jung previously won three silver medals and one bronze medal in the World Cup in the first to third matches. Boosting her momentum, she finally succeeded in embracing the gold medal. She also won four gold medals at the 31st Winter World University Games (Winter Universiade) last month. ISU also gave high praise. She highlighted one of her rivals, Susan Schulting from the Netherlands, and said, “It showed that ‘class is forever’.” Schulting won the gold medal in the women’s 1000 m.
◆ Calm down in the face
of external issues. Do not be shaken by external issues. Choi Min-jung had her mind troubled by her recent appointment as a coach for her team. Seongnam City Hall, her team, held an open recruitment for her coach position at the end of last year. A total of seven people applied, and it was revealed that Viktor Ahn (Korean name Ahn Hyun-soo), who was naturalized as a Russian, and former coach Kim Seon-tae, who served as the Chinese national team’s command tower at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, applied, drawing great attention. In the midst of the cold gaze, Seongnam City Hall eventually concluded that there was no successful applicant. We are planning to re-apply for the coaching position in the near future.
She even voiced it directly. Choi Min-jeong, along with 5 players from her team, issued a position statement asking them to ‘select a coach fairly and transparently’. There was a story about her supporting a certain person, but Choi Min-jung shook her head. She explained the background of her position, saying, “It was a pity that the virtues of a leader were in the background and social issues were the main focus.” Her statement was also said to have been written while she was in Korea right before her Lake Placid Winter Universiade appearance. 바카라
Meanwhile, news of other medals was delivered one after another. In the mixed 2000m relay finals, Choi Min-jung also won a silver medal with Hong Kyung-hwan (Goyang City Hall), Kim Gil-li (Seo Hyeon-go), and Lee Jun-seo (Korea National University of Physical Education). In the men’s 1500m first race final, Lee Jun-seo won the gold medal with a time of 2 minutes 28 seconds 291. Pietro Siegel (Italy) won the silver medal with a time of 2:28:401, followed by Lim Yong-jin (Goyang City Hall) with a time of 2:28:773. Park Ji-won (Seoul City Hall), who won three gold medals in the 1st and 4th competitions this season, won the men’s 1000m final with a time of 1:23:231.
