Korea’s Short-track Strategy Is Golden

Korea’s gold medal in the women’s Olympic 3,000m short-track skating relay yesterday was the result of good strategy, detailed analysis, and precise execution.

The starter in a relay race plays a very important role. The starter is expected to fight for space at the start of a race. Korea initially picked 23-year-old Jeon Da-hye as its starter because of her physical build (170cm, 63kg). But when she injured her ankle during practice, the team kept her hidden until the relay race. Jeon did not compete in singles event or appear in relay semi-final.

Coach Park Se-woo noticed that China’s skaters were caught off guard by Jeon’s powerful start in the relay final. It was also lucky for the Korean team that Jeon’s fall at the start of the race was ruled as a push, and she earned a second starting chance. As a rule, in short-track speed skating, if a skater falls before the apex of the first turn, the skaters may be recalled to make a new start.

Nineteen-year-old Byun Chun-sa also played an important role in Korea’s relay victory as the team’s fourth skater. In a short-track relay race, a team’s two best skaters usually go first and second; the fourth skater is usually the weakest. By placing Byun, who is good at outside passes, as the team’s fourth skater, the team was able to take the lead by passing the other teams’ weakest links. Byun took the lead twice during the race.

Having Choi Eun-kyung (22, Korea National Sports University), the strongest pusher in the team, as the third skater also helped Byun take the lead in the final leg.

Noticing that the ice was slow on the day of the race, coach Park asked Choi to focus on pushing. Park also said his emphasis on teammate communication helped Korea work as a unit.

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com