“I think it is an honor to race in front of local fans. I will show you a good image.”
Choi Min-jung (25) said this at the ‘2023 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships Media Day’ held at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul on the 7th. The competition will be held on the 10th and 12th at the same place.
‘Short track empress’ Choi Min-jeong said, “I personally thought I needed a break (for about a year) after the Beijing Olympics last year, but since the World Championships will be held in Korea, I did my best to prepare.” Fans are also very interested. According to the Korea Ice Skating Federation, 2,500 tickets for the online reservation for the event were sold out within 5 minutes of starting sales on the 27th of last month.
Choi Min-jeong won the overall world championships last year following 2015, 2016, and 2018, making her the most overall win in this event among Korean female short track athletes. The ISU will not be able to continue the record by removing the overall ranking system from this year.
Choi Min-jung said, “The overall ranking has disappeared, so the importance of individual events has increased.” “My goal in this tournament is to compete well with good juniors like Kim Kun-hee (23) and Kim Gil-ri (19), rather than personally performing well.” . 카지노
Among the male players, attention was focused on Park Ji-won (27), who took first place in the World Cup this season. Park Ji-won said, “My first World Championship was in Seoul in 2016. At the time, I only competed in the relay race as the youngest member of the national team, but I am happy that this is my first time participating in the individual event.” Park Ji-won won a bronze medal in the relay race in 2016, followed by a relay gold medal in 2019.
Park Ji-won said, “I don’t have any special feelings” about the confrontation with Lin Xiaojun (Lim Hyo-jun, 27), a naturalized Chinese citizen. I think I should do it 100%, too.” Xiaojun Lin is a Korean player who won the overall championship at the 2019 World Championships, but eventually naturalized as a Chinese citizen after being caught up in a sexual harassment case by a junior of the same sex. This is the first time a Chinese player has appeared in a world championship.
About 160 athletes will compete for gold medals in six individual events (men’s and women’s 500m, 1000m, and 1500m) and three team events (relay), including men’s 5000m, women’s 3000m, and mixed 2000m.