Short Track Park Ji-won finishes second in 1500m at first national qualifier

South Korean men's short track ace Park Ji-won (Seoul Metropolitan Government) finished second in the men's 1500 meters on the first day of the national team selection trials.

Park Ji-won clocked 2:19.400 to finish second in the men's 1500 meters final at the 2024-2025 National Short Track Team Trials on Friday at the Mokdong Silnaebingsang Stadium in Seoul.

Kim Gun-woo (Korea) won the title with a time of 2:19.236.

Park, who finished first in his heat, quarterfinals and semifinals, took the lead in the final with a mid-race pass on the outside.

Running second behind Lee Jung-soo (Seoul Metropolitan Government), Park attempted an in-course overtake, but was slightly off-center and lost the lead to Kim Gun-woo (South Korea), who took advantage of the gap and drove into the in-course.

Park Ji-won remained in second place the rest of the way but was unable to catch Kim.

Lee Do-jin (Hwaseong City Hall) crossed the line in third.

Park is the national team ace who won the men's overall title at the International Ice Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup Series in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons.

Park won the gold medal at the 2024 ISU Short Track World Championships last month, which allowed him to bypass the selection process and retain his Taegeuk mark for the 2024-2025 season.

The federation automatically selects the best performing male and female athlete from the short track world championships who win gold in at least one individual event for the following season.

Park Ji-won won two gold medals at last year's World Championships and was automatically selected for the 2023-2024 season.

However, she failed to medal at this year's World Championships after being fouled by teammate Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon-do) in the men's 1500m and 1000m finals.

This is a big deal for Park, who will face stiff competition in the selection process.

Park has been unfortunate in the past, missing out on national team selection in each of the Winter Asian Games and Olympic seasons, and has yet to resolve his military service issue.

If she wears the Korean flag in the 2024-2025 season and wins a gold medal at the 2025 Winter Asian Games in Harbin, she will be eligible for military service.

If she fails to win a gold medal at the Harbin Games, the 1996-born athlete will not be able to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo due to her military service.

Hwang Dae-heon, who was at the center of the "Team Kill" controversy, finished first in his heat and quarterfinals, but finished fifth in his third heat in the semifinals and missed the final.

In the women's 1500 meters final, Shim Seok-hee (Seoul Metropolitan Government) took first place with a time of 2:55.675.

Short-track queen Choi Min-jung (Seongnam City Hall), 안전놀이터 who took a break from the 2023-2024 season to hone her skills, finished fifth in 2:55.919.

Noh Do-hee (Hwaseong City Hall), Park Ji-yoon (Seoul Metropolitan Government) and Kim Gun-hee (Seongnam City Hall) finished second through fourth.

The 2024-2025 National Team Trials will be held on May 5-7 with the first round of competition and the second round on May 11-12.

The first round will consist of the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m races, and the top 24 men and women will qualify for the second round based on the total number of points earned.

The points from the first and second rounds will be combined to select eight men and seven women to represent the national team next season.

On the women's side, Kim Gil-ri (Seongnam City Hall), who won the overall ISU World Cup Series title in the 2023-2024 season and the 1500m gold medal at the World Championships, is an automatic selection.

The top three men's and top two women's finishers at the selection will receive priority qualification for international individual competitions.