Hwang Dae-heon regains his spot on national short track team

2022 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Hwang Dae-heon, who failed to qualify for the national short track speed skating team last season due to symptoms related to Covid-19, regained his spot in the squad after the selection contest on Sunday.

Hwang Dae-heon skates during the 2023-24 short track speed skating national squad selection contest at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong on Sunday. [YONHAP]

2022 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Hwang Dae-heon, who failed to qualify for the national short track speed skating team last season due to symptoms related to Covid-19, regained his spot in the squad after the selection contest on Sunday.

The national squad selection contest started last Tuesday at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong and ended on Sunday with 15 skaters securing a place on the national team.

Hwang seemed to have a little chance of gaining a spot after slipping in the men’s 500- and 1,000-meter races in the first selection contest last week.

The 23-year-old, however, shone throughout the second contest. He finished the 1,500 meters first and came in second in the 500 meters, before finishing second again in the 1,000 meters, ultimately topping the standings and booking a spot on the national team with 89 points.

Hwang was not able to compete in the national team during the 2022-23 season because he withdrew from the selection contest.

Park Ji-won was the national short track hero last season instead, earning two gold medals at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships last month.

Those gold medals automatically allowed Park Ji-won to join the national team because Korea Skating Union rules stipulate that a player who won a gold medal at the World Championships earns a spot in the team.

Kim Gun-woo, who finished second overall, will also be eligible to compete in both the individual and team competition alongside Hwang and Park Ji-won.

Seo Yi-ra and Jang Sung-woo who finished in third and fourth, earned priority to compete at international team events.

Meanwhile, No. 5 Lee Jeong-min, No. 6 Kim Tae-sung and No. 7 Lee June-seo will still be able to compete on the international stage in the event that the top four skaters cannot participate.

Over in the women’s division, Kim Gil-li finished in first place, with Shim Suk-hee coming second and Park Ji-won, a female skater with the same name, taking third.

Choi Min-jeong, who won silver at the World Championships last month and is one of the most successful Korean skaters of all time, chose not to compete in this year’s selection contest as she intends to focus on personal training.

Five other female skaters that secured a spot on the national squad are No. 4 Kim A-lang, No. 5 Lee So-youn, No. 6 Park Ji-yun, No. 7 Seo Whi-min and No. 8 Lee Yu-bin.

The selected skaters will compete in the International Skating Union events starting with the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in October in Canada.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]