The Korea Times

Short track World Cup champions eye more glory at world championsh­ips

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Having earned their big prizes during the World Cup season, Korean short trackers Park Ji-won and Kim Gil-li said Tuesday they will pursue more medals at the upcoming world championsh­ips.

Park and Kim returned home from Poland on Tuesday, after being crowned the men’s and women’s overall champions for the 2023-2024 Internatio­nal Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track Speed Skating season. They each received the Crystal Globe trophy for their effort.

Park, 27, claimed his second straight overall title with 1,071 points, 19 more than Steven Dubois of Canada.

Kim, 19, captured her first Crystal Globe after earning 1,211 points to finish 31 points ahead of Kristen Santos-Griswold of the U.S.

The ISU began awarding the Crystal Globe to its World Cup overall points leaders last season.

Each individual race win was worth 100 points. Park won six gold medals at six World Cup stops, including the crucial 1,000-meter title at the season-ending event in Poland on Sunday. Kim led all female skaters with seven gold medals.

“I had set out to win my second Crystal Globe in a row, but I probably put too much pressure on myself. I didn’t skate as well as I wanted to early on,” Park told reporters at Incheon Internatio­nal Airport, west of Seoul. “In the latter part of the season, my Plans B and C worked pretty well, fortunatel­y.”

Park needed to win the 1,000-meter final Sunday in Poland to put himself in a position to win the Crystal Globe. He went up against two teammates, Kim Gun-woo and Jang Sungwoo, and those two didn’t simply let Park win the race.

Kim, in particular, pushed Park hard before settling for second place.

“We didn’t talk about the Crystal Globe before the race,” Park said. “Even if I had not won that race and missed out on the trophy, I would have felt it was all part of sports.”

Now that he has accomplish­ed one major goal for the season, Park will shift his focus to the next one: winning multiple titles at the world championsh­ips in the Netherland­s next month. “I won two gold medals at last year’s world championsh­ips, and I will try to match that this year,” Park said.

Whereas Park had to climb out of an early hole to win his Crystal Globe, Kim led the points race wire to wire. She got off to a strong start with two gold and two silver medals at her first two World Cup stops and never looked back.

“I am so proud of myself for winning the Crystal Globe, which was my biggest goal for the season,” Kim said. “I think I’ve been getting better and better because I’ve been training with so many great skaters on our national team and then competing against accomplish­ed skaters on the senior circuit.”

Now in her second senior season, Kim said she still has room to grow.

“I don’t think I am as speedy as some of the foreign skaters, and so I’d like to improve in that area,” Kim said. “I’d love to win a gold medal at the world championsh­ips, too.”

 ?? EPA-Yonhap ?? Korea’s Park Ji-won, center, reacts at the finish line of the final 1,000m race at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Gdansk, Poland, Sunday.
EPA-Yonhap Korea’s Park Ji-won, center, reacts at the finish line of the final 1,000m race at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Gdansk, Poland, Sunday.
 ?? Yonhap ?? Kim Gil-li speaks to reporters at Incheon Internatio­nal Airport, Tuesday.
Yonhap Kim Gil-li speaks to reporters at Incheon Internatio­nal Airport, Tuesday.

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