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Self-belief pays off for figure skater in debut
At the end of the first Olympic short program of her career Tuesday night in Milan, figure skater Lee Hae-in showed very little emotion. It was difficult to tell if she was pleased or not with her performance. The South Korean ended up getting the best short program score of the season with 70.07 points at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Make no mistake: she was quite happy with the score but she just didn't know how to react to her own performance. "I didn't think I would receive that high of a score
Feb. 18, 2026 -
S. Korea falls to Switzerland in women's curling
South Korea lost to Switzerland 7-5 in the women's curling tournament at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Tuesday for its third loss in seven matches so far. Gim Eun-ji's South Korea got the first point in the opening end at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, northeast of Milan, before Silvana Tirinzoni's Switzerland put up a three-spot in the second end with Alina Paetz's promotion takeout with her team's final stone. But South Korea tied the score with a point each in the t
Feb. 18, 2026 -
S. Korea's 6th medal comes from short track; women's curling team beats China
MILAN (Yonhap) -- Short track speed skater Kim Gil-li gave South Korea its sixth medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with her bronze medal in the women's 1,000 meters Monday. Kim finished behind Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands and Courtney Sarault of Canada for her first career Olympic medal at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. South Korea now has one gold medal, two silver medals and three bronze medals, as the final week of the Winter Olympics got under way in northern Italy. Kim b
Feb. 17, 2026 -
Veteran short tracker to take 4th crack at tying S. Korean medals record
MILAN (Yonhap) -- Short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong will take her fourth crack at winning her record-tying sixth career Olympic medal Wednesday. Choi will skate alongside three teammates in the 3,000-meter relay final at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Wednesday. South Korea will be up against Canada, Italy and the Netherlands in the final, scheduled to start at 9 p.m. (local time). With five medals over the two previous Olympic Games, Choi sits a medal away from tying the mark for th
Feb. 17, 2026 -
Short tracker claims 1st career medal days after big crash
Having emerged virtually unscathed from what could have been a devastating crash earlier at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, short track speed skater Kim Gil-li stayed on her feet for her first career medal Monday. And it was fitting that for a skater so fast that she has been dubbed "Lambor-Gilli," after the famous Italian sports car, that medal came in Italy. Kim, 21, claimed the bronze medal in the women's 1,000 meters at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Monday, six days after she was t
Feb. 16, 2026 -
S. Korea still in search of 1st short track gold with time ticking
At the last Winter Olympic Games held in Italy, Turin 2006, South Korea collected six out of eight gold medals up for grabs. Ahn Hyun-soo and Jin Sun-yu each took three gold medals in the men's and women's races. South Korea, however, hasn't been nearly as successful in Italy this year. With five medal events in the books and four more remaining, South Korea is still without a gold medal. The all-time leader with 56 medals in Olympic short track speed skating, South Korea has so far taken one si
Feb. 16, 2026 -
Speed skater bullish about future after encouraging Olympic debut
Speed skating sprinter Lee Na-hyun is leaving her first Winter Olympics in northern Italy feeling good about her medal prospects at the next competition in the French Alps in 2030. Lee, 20, capped her Winter Games debut on Sunday with a 10th-place finish in the women's 500 meters at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in Milan. She clocked 37.86 seconds. Lee had the eighth-fastest start with 10.47 seconds over the opening 100m, but she slowed considerably over the next 400m, coming home in 27.39 second
Feb. 16, 2026 -
Runners brave subzero cold at 'Naked Marathon'
A total of 450 participants braved freezing temperatures on Saturday as they ran shirtless in the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Naked Marathon. Despite the cold, runners appeared in high spirits, drawing cheers from spectators. Participants removed their upper garments, with some performing a playful group jump before the race. The event was jointly organized by the Pyeongchang-gun Sports Council and the Daegwallyeong-myeon Sports Association. Organizers said the marathon aimed to encourage particip
Feb. 15, 2026 -
Lee congratulates short tracker Hwang Dae-heon on silver medal win
President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday congratulated short track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon on his silver medal win at the men's 1,500 meters at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. "I send a big applause to Hwang Dae-heon, who has captured a priceless silver medal," Lee wrote on Facebook after Hwang clinched the medal -- for his second consecutive medal in that distance -- on Saturday (local time). Lee touted Hwang for proving his world-class talent, noting how he won the silver following a gold meda
Feb. 15, 2026 -
Short tracker Hwang Dae-heon takes silver in men's 1,500m
Short track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon captured the silver medal in the men's 1,500 meters at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday for his second consecutive medal in that distance. Hwang finished in second place behind Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands in a chaotic, nine-skater final at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, four years after winning the gold medal in Beijing. Roberts Kruzbergs of Latvia took the bronze. This was South Korea's second short track medal here and its fifth
Feb. 15, 2026 -
What Olympians understand about work that most offices don’t
At the Winter Olympics, where medals are decided by tenths of a second and the difference between the podium and just off it can hinge on a single edge or landing, the competition is not only physical. It is cognitive and emotional. Athletes are navigating not only slippery courses and triple rotations, but also the quiet churn of memory — the crash last season, the near miss, the doubt that resurfaces from time to time. This is what Liane Davey, a team effectiveness adviser and New York Times b
Feb. 14, 2026 -
No regrets for figure skater despite near miss
Following the end of his free skate Friday night, marred by an early mistake with a jump, Cha Jun-hwan remained on the ice for a few extra moments, his legs stretched out and his hands propping him up. The South Korean figure skater appeared to be soaking up the cheers from the crowd at Milano Ice Skating Arena at the conclusion of his Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Cha deserved all the adulation that came his way, as he finished in fourth place overall with 273.92 points. He received 181.20 poi
Feb. 14, 2026 -
Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan finishes 4th in men's singles
Cha Jun-hwan finished fourth in the men's singles figure skating event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, topping his own record for the best performance by a South Korean male figure skater but coming up just short of a medal. Cha scored 181.20 points in the free skate at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan for his season-best total of 273.92 points. He had the sixth-highest short program score of 92.72 points on Tuesday. With one medal contender after another falling left and right,
Feb. 14, 2026 -
Stoic short track star reduced to tears after missing podium
Short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong doesn't often show her emotions after races. And when she cries out of disappointment over a loss, it goes to show you how much that particular event must have meant to her. Choi shed tears after getting eliminated in the semifinals of the women's 500 meters at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Thursday night. She was the only South Korean out of three in that distance to even get that deep into the competition. Sout
Feb. 13, 2026 -
What lies ahead for South Korea’s medal hopes at the Olympics
As the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics enter their second week, South Korea's medal picture is coming into focus. So far, the standout storyline of the Games has been Korea's long-awaited breakthrough in snowboarding. Choi Gaon stormed to gold in the women's snowboard halfpipe on Thursday night, delivering South Korea's first-ever gold in a snow event and the country's first gold medal of the Milan Cortina Games. Snowboarder Kim Sang-kyum captured a surprise silver medal in the men's parallel
Feb. 13, 2026