S. Koreans enjoy solid starts at final Short Track World Tour stop in Netherlands

South Koreas are off to solid starts at the fourth and final International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Tour event of the season in the Netherlands, as they try to secure spots at the upcoming Winter Olympics. All three South Korean men advanced to the semifinals in the 1,500 meters at the Optisport Sportboulevard in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, on Thursday (local time). Rim Jong-un finished first in Heat 3, while Shin Dong-min ranked second in Heat 1 and Lee Jeong-min ended third in Heat 6. In the 500m, Rim and Hwang Dae-heon both skated through the preliminaries and the heats to reach the quarterfinals. In the women's 1,000m, three-time Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong fell to the repechage phase after finishing third in Heat 6. She finished first overall in the repechage quarterfinals and will skate in the repechage semifinals Saturday. Two other South Koreans in the 1,000m, Kim Gil-li and Noh Do-hee, both advanced to the quarterfinals without needing repechage. Also on Thursday, South Korea qualified for the semifinals in the women's 3,000m relay, featuring Noh, Seo Whi-min, LeeWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times