The uneasy prospect before the season was unfounded. Park Ji-won (27, Seoul City Hall) has become the new short track emperor.
Park Ji-won crossed the finish line with a record of 1:25:359 in the men’s 1000m second race final of the 2022-2023 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup 6th competition held in Dordrecht, the Netherlands on the 13th (Korean time), winning the gold medal hung around the neck
Park Ji-won, who won three gold medals in the 1500m and men’s 5000m relay the previous day, became the first star of the ‘Crystal Globe’ and became the best player of this season.
In the men’s 1000m second race finals, Park Ji-won, who was in the lower ranks in the beginning, wrote a come-from-behind drama with an amazing last-minute spurt. He picked up the pace with three laps to go, but his competitors were not easy to keep in check. In the end, Park Ji-won bet the winner on the last lap. He showed explosive speed on the out-course and was the first to cross the finish line, passing the other players at once.
In the final of the 5000m relay, Park Ji-won’s speed was dazzling. He raced as a team with Lim Yong-jin (Goyang City Hall), Lee Dong-hyeon (Uijeongbu Kwangdong High School), and Kim Tae-seong (Dankook University). Korea cruised without giving up first place throughout the race.
With the last two laps left, Park Ji-won competed for the lead with Lin Xiaojun, a Korean gold medalist at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and a naturalized Chinese citizen after an unfortunate incident. A physical struggle broke out right before the finish line, but Park Ji-won held out her blade and won the gold medal for Korea. South Korea’s time was 6:47:048, and China’s was 6:47:090, a narrow gap.
Park Ji-won’s move this season was surprising. Before the season, Hwang Dae-heon gave up the Taegeuk mark, raising anxiety, but Park Ji-won swept 3 gold medals from the 1st competition and showed a strong performance, monopolizing a total of 14 gold medals until the 6th competition.
Park Ji-won, who scored 1068 World Cup ranking points, beat Hong Kyung-hwan (Goyang City Hall, 668 points) in second place by a wide margin and rose to first place in the individual overall this season. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the World Cup, the ISU decided to award a special trophy, the ‘Crystal Globe’, to the men’s and women’s overall first place in the 1st to 6th World Cups this season. Park Ji-won became the first protagonist of this trophy.
In an interview with ISU, Park Ji-won said, “I wanted to receive this first trophy and become a part of short track speed skating history. I am really proud of it.”
It’s been a long hard time. In the 2015-2016 season, he wore the Taegeuk mark, but was pushed back by strong competitors such as Lin Xiaojun and Hwang Dae-heon. At the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Games, she could not cross the national team qualifying wall.
Even Hwang Dae-heon is missing. That’s why it was a more valuable achievement. Park Ji-won said, “I’ve been in and out of the national team for the past few years, so I wanted to show that I’m back this season. So I wanted to be the best in every race. Now I’m back on top.” 바카라
He also had a special attachment to himself in that it was a medal given to the player who achieved the most outstanding results throughout the season. “I will keep this trophy by my side for a while. It will be with me at breakfast and in bed at night,” he added.
Now, the eyes turn to the 2023 World Short Track Championships to be held in Seoul from the 10th to the 12th of next month. Park Ji-won, who proudly rose to the top of the world, said, “I have won many gold medals this season, but none are the same. Every race has a different story.” “Do you know who the crystal glove is? I will become world champion next month.”
Meanwhile, Xiaojun Lin won the men’s 500m final that day and took the top spot for the second consecutive time in this event following the 5th competition. There was a gap, but he showed off his skills this season as a member of the Chinese national team. It has emerged as a strong competitor to the national team players, including Park Ji-won, who will compete in the world championships next month.