Korea Conquers Short Tracks in Winter Universiade

The Korean team finished all-round 2nd place owed to topping all-ten events in short tracks in the 22nd winter Universiade held in Innsbruck, Austria.

In the last day of the event, which took place in Innsbruck, Olympia World, on the 22nd, Korea swept Men’s/Women’s 3000m, Women’s 3000m relay, Men’s 5000m relay and added a bronze medal to the previously acquired 4 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals ending up 2nd place after the host country Austria (10 gold, 8 silver, 3 bronze).

Korea took all-round 2nd place in four years since 2001 competition held in Zako-pane, Poland, but since the gold medals are concentrated only in the short- track category, it should assume the responsibility to develop evenly in all categories.

After the "star" in Women’s short track Choi Eun-gyung (21, Korea National Sports University) crossed the finish line as the first runner with a 5 minute 7 sec 573 record, she also came off as the last runner in the Women’s 3000m relay and drew the gold medal. Choi Eun-gyung set a milestone to take multi-championships in the competition as well as claiming to be the first Korean to take victories in every category in international competitions.

Ahn Hyun-soo (20, Korea National Sports University) also took Triple Crown in the competition including the Men`s relay while taking the gold medal in the final round of Men’s 3000m.

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com