South Korean short track speed skater Jang Sung-woo won a bronze medal to conclude the International Skating Union's revamped World Tour season at the venue for next year's Winter Olympics in Italy.
Jang finished third in the men's 1,000 meters at the sixth and final stop of the World Tour at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Sunday.
Jang, who had won bronze in the men's 1,500m the previous day, was the only South Korean to win a medal over two days in Italy. South Korea was shut out of medals in both the women's 3,000m relay and the men's 5,000m relay.
Jang and his teammates faced a busy competition schedule this month. They competed at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, from Feb. 7 to 9 and arrived back in South Korea last Monday. And they traveled to Italy the very next day for the World Tour event.
The national team still pushed ahead in order to give its prospective Olympic skaters a taste of the big competition scheduled for next year. Milano Ice Skating Arena will hold short track races during the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the World Tour competition was the official Olympic test event.
South Koreans finished well out of contention for the Crystal Globe, awarded to the men's and women's overall points leaders at the end of the World Tour season. They missed the fifth leg of the tour in the Netherlands because it overlapped with the Asian Winter Games and then struggled at the last stop in Italy.
Park Ji-won, the two-time men's defending Crystal Globe winner, finished sixth this time, as did the 2024 women's winner, Kim Gil-li.
South Koreans will turn their eyes toward the world championships set for March 14-16 in Beijing.
The top South Korean male and woman skater with at least one gold medal at the world championships will each be given automatic berths on the national team for the 2025-2026 season, which will include the Olympics. The remaining spots will be filled at the notoriously competitive national team trials, with no assurance that those who won medals at the Asian Winter Games will be back for the Olympic season. (Yonhap)
