Kim Gil-li wins 2 gold medals at short track World Cup

‘Lamborgh Gil-li’ Kim Gil-li of South Korea won two gold medals after the opening of the short track World Cup.

Kim finished the women’s short track 1,500-meter final at the second 2023-2024 International Skating Union World Cup held in Montreal, Canada on Sunday with a time of 2 minutes and 34.588 seconds. She also won another gold medal in the women’s 1,000-meter race at the first World Cup held in the same locations last week by pushing her skate blade forward at the end of the race. During the latest race, she maintained the leading position from early in the race and won a gold.

This is the first time a South Korean female skater won gold medals in both the first and second World Cup events since Choi Min-jeong in the 2017-2018 season. Choi who had been the ace skater of the South Korean national team by winning gold medals in the women’s 1,500-meter race at both the 2018 PyeongChang and 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games stepped down from the team this season to recharge herself. “This season is off to a great start," Kim said with a smile. "It is only natural as I have trained so hard." She earned the name of the team’s next-generation ace by filling in Choi’s position.


leper@donga.com