Choi Min-jeong reclaims her throne as ‘Queen of the ice’

Korea’s short track speed skating queen, Choi Min-jeong (27), has made a triumphant comeback. Although she conceded the gold medal in her main event, the women’s 1500-meter event, to her junior Kim Gil-li (21), she overcame a year-long hiatus to become the first Korean athlete to win three gold medals at the 2025 Harbin Winter Asian Games.

On Sunday, at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin, China, Choi secured the gold medal in the women’s 1,000-meter final with a record-breaking time of 1 minute 29.637 seconds, setting a new Asian Games record. The day before, on Saturday, she had already won gold in the mixed 2,000-meter relay and the women’s 500-meter event, marking a spectacular return to the sport. Choi Min-jeong is the first Korean female athlete to achieve a three-gold medal feat at the Winter Asian Games.

In the 1,000-meter semifinal, Choi had already broken the previous Asian Games record (1 minute 30.376 seconds), set by Shim Suk-hee during the Sapporo Games, by clocking in at 1 minute 29.835 seconds. She then broke her record again in the 1,000-meter final, achieving 1 minute 29.637 seconds. After her victory, Choi reflected, “This competition is part of my journey toward the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics. I feel that I am now one step closer to Milan, and I will continue to achieve my planned goals step by step.”

Having successfully concluded the Asian Games, the Korean short track team will next compete in the ISU World Cup 6th event, set to take place in Milan starting on Friday.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com