🏆 Lee Jung-min's Late Surge! World Tour Round 1 Finale ⛸️ - 2026.10.26 | Short Track

Hello, fans! 🛼

On the final day of the 2026-2027 Short Track World Tour Round 1, the men's 5000m relay brought gold news! Korea closed out the meet in style 🇰🇷

🔥 Men's 5000m Relay: A Late Comeback Drama!

Until the late stages, Korea trailed Canada and was running second ^[3]. With 10 laps left, Korea was well behind Canada and battling China for second ^[2]. Then Lee Gyu-ho passed China with 4 laps to go and moved into second, setting up the comeback ^[2]! 🙌

Then anchor Lee Jung-min took over. With explosive speed he closed the gap to Canada, then dove into the inside lane on the final curve to take the lead ^[1]! With half a lap left he also passed Matthew Pelletier and held the inside line ^[2]. Korea finished in 7:35.598, edging Canada (7:35.715) by a hair ^[4]. China finished in 7:35.929 ^[2]. A thrilling finish decided by about 0.1 seconds 😱

Lee Jung-min was also the 'relay ace' who made consecutive passes on both inside and outside lanes at the Milano-Cortina Olympics in February ^[1]. He carried that form into his first international event of the season. He won the overall title at the national team selection in April, securing spots in both individual and team events this season ^[1].

🤝 Gold and Silver in One Day: Mixed Relay Heroics!

Lee Jung-min also won silver in the mixed 2000m relay earlier that day ^[1], alongside Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-li, and Kim Tae-seong ^[6]. Korea was fourth, and anchor Lee seized the moment when a Canadian skater fell, surged forward, and passed Poland for third, finishing second behind the Netherlands ^[1]! 🥈

🏅 Choi Min-jeong Adds 1500m Bronze to Her Final Season

Choi Min-jeong took bronze in the women's 1500m in 2:28.183 ^[1]. Across this meet she collected one gold, two silvers, and one bronze, showing she is still in top form ^[2]. In the final she tried a different strategy, taking the lead with 5 laps to go and controlling the race ^[1]. But with one lap left she gave the inside line to Courtney Sakai, and at the last corner Hanne Desmet passed her, leaving her third ^[7]. It was a bitter moment, but she keeps stacking medals in her final national team season 💪

In the same event, Sim Suk-hee finished 6th, and Kim Gil-li fell and finished 7th ^[1].

🥉 Bae Seo-chan Takes Men's 1000m Bronze!

Bae Seo-chan won bronze in the men's 1000m ^[8]. He also contributed to the men's 5000m relay gold ^[2].

🇳🇱 Netherlands Dominate

The Netherlands took 5 of the 9 golds at this meet ^[2]. Jens van 't Wout swept all three men's individual golds (500, 1000, 1500m) ^[2], and Sandra Zeljenbuerg won the women's 500m ^[9]. Korea and Canada each won two golds ^[2].

📅 What's Next?

World Tour Round 2 runs from the 31st to the 2nd of next month in Montreal, Canada ^[2]. We can't wait to see what comebacks Korea writes next! As we shared earlier, Round 3 is set for November 20 to 22 in Mokdong, Seoul, so domestic fans, get ready 📣 ^[5]

What moment moved you most? Let's talk in the comments! 💬