(C) FISU

DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS—South Korean short track speed skaters Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall) and Lim Jong-eon (Nowon High School) secured gold medals at the 2025–2026 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Tour 4th Competition in Dordrecht, Netherlands, marking the final major international event before the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Kim Gil-li Dominates 1500m 

Kim Gil-li continued her impressive performance streak, winning the Women’s 1500m race with a time of 2 minutes, 26.306 seconds. Her victory in Dordrecht follows a gold medal in the same event at last week’s 3rd competition, cementing her status as the World Tour's season leader in the Women’s 1500m. Kim's consistent dominance positions her as a formidable medal contender in this event for the upcoming Winter Olympics in February.

Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall) earned the bronze medal in the Women’s 1500m with a time of 2:26.568. After securing gold in the 2nd competition and silver in the 3rd, Choi concluded her World Tour season by sharing the joint second rank in the 1500m season standings with Courtney Sarault of Canada. Choi is now setting her sights on achieving an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic title in this distance.

Lim Jong-eon Strikes Gold in Men's 1000m 

On the men's side, rising star Lim Jong-eon delivered a stellar performance in the Men’s 1000m final. He crossed the finish line in 1:25.877, outracing Liu Shaoang of China (1:26.023) and Pietro Sighel of Italy (1:26.094) to claim the gold.

This victory is Lim’s second individual gold medal in his debut season on the senior stage, having previously won the 1500m event at the 1st competition. His success on the World Tour has significantly raised expectations for his performance at the Winter Olympics next year.

Mixed Relay Team Earns Bronze 

In the Mixed 2000m Relay final, the South Korean team—comprising Kim Gil-li, Choi Min-jeong, Lim Jong-eon, and Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Office)—finished with the bronze medal, clocking in at 2:38.038.

This is the third mixed relay medal for the Korean squad this season, following a silver in the 2nd competition and a gold in the 3rd. The team concludes the season ranked second overall in the Mixed Relay standings, trailing only the Netherlands.

The strong showing by Kim Gil-li and Lim Jong-eon at the final World Tour event provides a significant boost of confidence for the entire South Korean short track team as they finalize their preparations for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. The focus now shifts to the pinnacle event of the season, where these athletes will look to translate their World Tour success into Olympic glory.

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