Choi Min-jeong wins gold at first World Tour event of her “national-team retirement season,” takes women’s 1,000m title

[Financial News] Choi Min-jeong (28, Seongnam City Hall), South Korea’s leading women’s short-track skater, won gold at the first World Tour event of her national-team retirement season. 
On the 25th (Korea time), Choi won the women’s 1,000m final at the first event of the 2026–2027 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Tour, held at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada, with a time of 1:32.954. 
Choi, who was running in third early in the race and looking for a chance to pass, made her move with three laps to go. She accelerated in the outside lane to pass Gloria Ioriatti (Italy), then immediately cut to the inside and passed the leader, Sandra Felzebur (Netherlands). 
After taking the lead, Choi maintained her fast pace and did not let the others catch her. She pulled away from runner-up Felzebur and crossed the finish line first to secure the gold medal. 
After the first round of the national short-track team trials last April, Choi announced that she would leave the national team after the 2026–2027 season. By showing off world-class form from the first event of her national-team retirement season, she demonstrated that her competitiveness remains undiminished. 
Choi’s form remained undiminished. After advancing from the heats in every event she entered the previous day as the top finisher in her group, she also topped her group in the women’s 1,000m semifinals that day to reach the final. 
Kim Gilli (Seongnam City Hall), who also reached the final in the event, finished fifth.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s men did not win a medal in the 500m that day. Team ace Lim Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall) finished third in semifinal heat 1 and was relegated to the B final, the placement race. 
Lee Chung Min (Seongnam City Hall), who advanced to the final, was running fourth on the last lap when he attempted to pass on the outside. After making contact with Steven Dubois (Canada) in the final turn, Lee crossed the finish line third, but was disqualified with a penalty after being ruled to have committed a foul against Dubois. 

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