‘There is no case of Jeon Kyung’… Korea’s 4th mixed relay at the Short Track World Cup was disqualified, but why bronze medal?

Even though the South Korean short track team was disqualified from the 2000m mixed relay, it harvested the bronze medal as an unexpected situation came out.

South Korea was disqualified from the final of the 2000m mixed relay in the fourth round of the 2023-2024 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul on the 16th, but won the bronze medal.

Korea has never won a gold medal in the mixed relay in the three previous World Cups. In the first competition, Korea was lagging behind China and had to settle for a silver medal, and in the second and third competitions, Korea couldn’t even win a gold medal at all.

Team Korea, which had Kim Kee-li (Seongnam City Hall), Shim Suk-hee, Park Jie-won (Seoul City Hall) and Seo I-ra (Hwaseong City Hall) in the semifinals, advanced to the final as No. 1 in the group. Later, team was formed with Kim Kee-li, the male and female ace players, Park Jie-won, Shim Suk-hee and Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Office). In fact, they are considered the most elite members.

Shim Suk-hee, the first runner, was in second place and closely followed the Netherlands’ lead. Kim Ki-li, the second runner after Shim Suk-hee, also accelerated and sought a loophole in the Netherlands. 파친코

After being touched by third runner Hwang Dae-heon, fourth runner Park Ji-won advanced to the lead by penetrating the in-course. Shim Suk-hee, who ran again with eight laps to go, kept the lead despite checks from the Netherlands, and Shim Suk-hee and Kim Ki-li touched smoothly.

Kim Ki-li accelerated his pace and refused to allow Zandra Belzebourg (the Netherlands) to pursue him, and Hwang Dae-heon began to widen the gap. However, the last runner Park Ji-won strongly collided with Jens Fantfaut (the Netherlands) while going around the last corner, and left the battlefield as it was.

After examining the situation several times, the judges declared a rematch, but the Korean players disappeared. The judges ruled that only three other countries except Korea would participate in the rematch. The judges judged that Park Ji-won did not give up space in the process of overtaking Pantfout’s in-course, which was running in a straight line. Eventually, the rematch was held without Korea, who was disqualified.

After the rematch, the Netherlands and Italy won the gold and silver medals, respectively. However, there was a twist. As the U.S. was disqualified from the rematch, two of the four teams were disqualified from the final. Korea, which had not expected to win the prize after being disqualified from the first match, tied for third, and won the bronze medal.

“If two of the four teams are disqualified, the first and second teams will be determined. If three teams are disqualified when five teams come up, the three teams that have been disqualified will be tied for third,” said an official from the Korea Skating Union after the ceremony. “In the past, the player or team that ranked first in the final B won the third place, but the rules have changed since last year.”

Under the previous rule, Belgium, which won first place in the Final B, would have won the bronze medal on purpose, but the ISU changed that. It can be seen as a kind of luck that the U.S. gained when it was disqualified from the re-match.

In the women’s 500 meters at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Korean short track speed skaters ranked first after Jeon was defeated by Final B. Isabel Chare of Canada, who advanced to Final A, was disqualified, and Wang Chun-ru of China did not cross the finish line, jumping from fifth to third, winning a lucky bronze medal. Even though Jeon was in Final B, she did her best in the race. However, due to the changed regulations, there is no case of Jeon.