Park Ji-won (white helmet, Seoul City Hall) and Hwang Dae-heon (red helmet, Gangwon Provincial Office) are racing in the men's 1500m semifinals of the '2024-2025 season short track national team 2nd selection competition' held at the Mokdong Indoor Ice Rink in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 11th.
Park Ji-won (28, Seoul City Hall), ranked No. 1 in the short track world rankings, succeeded in ‘surviving’ the national team selection competition where the fate of her career depended on it, and will wear the Taegeuk symbol in the next season as well.
Park Ji-won crossed the finish line first among the seven participants with a time of 2 minutes 15.759 seconds in the men's 1500m final of the 2024-25 season short track national team selection event held at the Mok-dong Ice Rink in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 11th.
It was no exaggeration to say that for Park Ji-won, this national team selection match was a stage on which his career as a player depended. It would be difficult for Park Ji-won, who turns 29 next year, to postpone his military service any longer, so he had to be selected for the national team and aim for a gold medal at the Asian Winter Games to be held in Harbin, China next year.
He recently won the overall championship at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup for two consecutive years, but failed to win a medal at the World Championships, missing the opportunity to automatically qualify for the national team next season. In particular, during this process, his national teammate Hwang Dae-heon (25, Gangwon Province Office) committed fouls one after another, causing controversy.
Park Ji-won, who clashed with Hwang Dae-heon again in the 500m semifinals of the first qualifying round, finished first in the 1000m on the last day and finished the first qualifying round.
On the first day of the second qualifying round, Park Ji-won faced Hwang Dae-heon twice in the 1500m.
First, in Group 2 of the semifinals, Park Ji-won and Hwang Dae-heon were placed in the same group. However, the match ended without a major collision, with Park Ji-won in first place and Hwang Dae-heon in third place. As Hwang Dae-heon recorded the best score among the top three in each group and advanced to the finals, the match between Park Ji-won and Hwang Dae-heon was once again concluded. Park Ji-won started from the back in the early stages of the game, but quickly took the lead with explosive speed in the mid-game. Afterwards, he increased his speed and resisted the pursuit of late runners, and in the last corner, Seong-Woo Jang (Korea University) and Geon-Woo Kim (Sports Toto) caught up, but finished the race in first place. After confirming first place, he raised his arms and cheered. Park Ji-won failed to add any points in the 500m as she was eliminated in the quarterfinals. However, he added 34 points by winning the 1500m on this day to the 55 points he earned in the first selection, and maintained the lead in the men's division with a total of 89 points.
Jang Seong-woo, who won the 500m championship, took second place with 76 points, and Kim Geon-woo came in third place with 68 points, reaching the Maginot Line to participate in the individual competition next season.
After that, Lee Jeong-su (Seoul City Hall) is in 4th place with 47 points. Even if Lee Jeong-su wins the 1000m held on the 12th and takes 34 points, he cannot surpass Park Ji-won with 81 points.
Accordingly, Park Ji-won was able to secure at least 3rd place regardless of the result of the 1000m race.
Hwang Dae-heon, who caused controversy due to a series of fouls, finished in 5th place in the 1500m and was disqualified again in the 500m.
Dae-heon Hwang, who reached the 500m final, crossed the finish line in second place, but was disqualified after being recognized as obstructing his path in the competition with Tae-seong Kim (Seoul City Hall) early in the race.
Daeheon Hwang's total score so far is only 10, making it impossible for him to participate in individual competitions next season. However, there remains a possibility that he will be included in the top 8 to participate in the team competition.
Meanwhile, in the women's division, Shim Seok-hee (Seoul City Hall), Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall), and Noh Do-hee (Hwaseong City Hall) compete until the end for the right to participate in the individual event.
In the 1500m on this day, Noh Do-hee won a surprising victory, while Shim Seok-hee and Choi Min-jeong finished in 4th and 5th place.
In the 500m that followed, Choi Min-jeong crossed the finish line first, boasting explosive speed, Shim Seok-hee took second, and Noh Do-hee took third.
In the intermediate total, Shim Seok-hee ranked first with 100 points, Choi Min-jeong ranked second with 90 points, and Noh Do-hee ranked third with 73 points. In the women's division, Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall), who won the gold medal at the World Championships, is automatically selected and must be in the top two to participate in the individual competition next season.
The final outline is expected to be revealed in the 1000m race held on the 11th. 토토