South Korean short track speed skating star Choi Min-jeong recently said that she will challenge the women's 500m championship for South Korea for the first time at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games. On the 13th local time, Choi Min-jeong said in an interview with South Korean media at the Chuncheon Rock Ice Rink, where the short track speed skating competition of the 106th All Korea Winter Games was held: "I will participate in the Asian Winter Games again after 8 years. I will once again challenge the women's 500m that I failed to achieve at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo. I really want to. ”

South Korean short track speed skating star Choi Min-jeong

As the shortest distance event in short track speed skating, the 500m has always been a shortcoming for the Korean team. The South Korean team, which is better at endurance and combat than instantaneous speed, has previously focused on the longer middle distance events. During this period, the women's 500m became an exclusive event for China. From the 2nd Asian Winter Games held in Sapporo in 1990 to the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games, the Chinese team won seven consecutive gold medals in the women's 500m short track speed skating competition. On the contrary, South Korea has never won a gold medal.

The best result for a Korean woman in the 500m at the Asian Winter Games was Choi Min-kyung's silver medal at the 1999 Asian Winter Games in Gangwon-do, South Korea.

South Korean short track speed skating star Choi Min-jeong was interviewed

Ahead of the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games, Choi Min-jung said she wanted to win the event for South Korea for the first time. In response, she increased her muscle strength and devoted herself to starting training. But Cui Minjing couldn't make it happen when she was held back by a Chinese player in the semi-finals and failed to make it to the final.

Cui Minjing is challenging the Asian Winter Games short track speed skating sprint championship again after 8 years. The 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin on the 7th of next month will be the first time in eight years that the event will kick off after eight years. Cui Minjing said: "There was a lot of sprinting training during this time. In addition to the starting training, the focus is also on acceleration training, focusing on upper body training and strength training to enhance explosiveness. ”

Cui Minjing also said: "In this competition, I will also compete with China, and I will not lose my concentration in the end. Choi Min-jung will also challenge for the title in the women's 1500m event, which is the strength of the Korean team. She won the gold medal in the women's 1500m at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, setting a record for South Korea for five consecutive titles in the event. If they win the championship at this year's Harbin Asian Winter Games, the South Koreans will achieve the great feat of winning six consecutive championships.

Cui Minjing worked hard to train explosiveness

Cui Minjing said, "I want to continue the path of my predecessors. I would be very honored if my name were to be included in the history of Korean short track speed skating. It is reported that Cui Minjing is preparing for the game as planned and improving her physical condition, but her condition has not fully recovered.

Choi Min-jung withdrew from the Korean women's short track speed skating team for the 2023-2024 season in order to rest and regroup, but she chose to return this season. "It seems that about 80% of the off-season target has been achieved. There are still many things that need to be improved, and they will be slowly made up. She added: "If eight years ago [at the Asian Winter Games] was the position of the challenger, now it is the position of the champion. Competitors and countries will clearly analyze my strengths and weaknesses, so I will try a lot of technical changes and participate in competitions. ”