Korean women's curling team aims for Olympic medal at upcoming 2026 Winter Games

The Korean women’s curling team vowed to capture a medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Friday, before heading to Canada for a Grand Slam event that will serve as its final major test before the Games.

Members of the Korean women's curling team pose for photos after their press conference in southern Seoul on Jan. 2. From left: Kim Min-ji, Seol Ye-eun, Kim Su-ji, Seol Ye-ji and Gim Eun-ji. [YONHAP]

The Korean women’s curling team vowed to capture a medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Friday, before heading to Canada for a Grand Slam event that will serve as its final major test before the Games.

“It's been 12 years since I competed in the Olympics,” Gim Eun-ji said during the team's send-off at Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul on Friday. “I want to make sure this long wait does not go to waste. I will come back with a gold medal after showing what we can do at the Olympics."

Gim competed at the 2014 Olympics as Korea's first curler. She will be competing alongside Kim Min-ji, Seo Ye-eun, Kim Su-ji and Seol Ye-ji in the women's event this year, with the mixed doubles event also awaiting Korea.

"I visited Cortina d’Ampezzo [in Italy] during a tour event while preparing for the Olympics and hope to go back there," Kim Min-ji said. “I went there once, and I left with the mindset that I would come back. I will return to Cortina and compete."

The women’s team will take a final test before the Olympics as they compete in the Grand Slam of Curling in Canada.

“We will compete in the Grand Slam event in Canada first,” Kim Min-ji said. “Then we will return to the national training center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong, to sharpen our teamwork one last time and fine-tune our tactics."

Korea’s mixed doubles pair, Kim Seon-young and Jeong Yeong-seok, also joined the send-off after securing the country’s first direct Olympic qualification in the discipline at the Olympic Qualification Event last month.

Seol Ye-ji speaks during a press conference at the Korean women's curling team's launch ceremony in southern Seoul on Jan. 2. [YONHAP]

"I started curling to compete at the Olympics," Jeong said. "I will put everything into it and enjoy it with no regrets. I will prove our mixed doubles team is one of the best in the world."

For Kim Seon-young, the upcoming Olympics would mark her third.

“I arrived three days before the Olympic Qualification Event to practice, but our equipment did not arrive, so we could not train with our own gear,” Kim said. “Our bags arrived on the day of the match so that we could compete. I just felt grateful and focused on the matches.

“I feel grateful just to challenge for a third Olympics. I will trust my experience and approach it more comfortably. I will also trust my chemistry with Yeong-seok."

Korea secured its first curling medal at the Olympics, when Team Kim — consisting of Kim Eun-jung, Kim Kyeong-ae, Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Yeong-mi and Kim Cho-hee — won a silver at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

During the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Team Kim went down in history for Korean sports not only for winning a silver medal in the relatively unfamiliar sport, but also for the sportsmanship and team spirit of former seniors and juniors from Uiseong Girls' High School in North Gyeongsang.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY PIH JU-YOUNG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]