[Olympics] Choi Min-jeong Advances to Women's 1000m Final (Summary)

3rd Place After Semifinals for Santos and Fontana
Advances to Finals Ahead of Lee Yubin in Records

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall) advanced to the women's 1000m final at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. On the 11th, Choi Min-jeong crossed the finish line in 1 minute 26.850 seconds in the second semifinal heat of the women's 1000m short track at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium. She finished third behind Kristen Santos (USA, 1:26.783) and Arianna Fontana (Italy, 1:26.811). She secured the last spot for the final with a better time than Lee Yu-bin (Yonsei University, 1:28.170), who finished third in the first semifinal heat. The final includes the top two finishers from each heat and the fastest third-place finisher from all heats.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Choi Min-jeong struggled as her planned strategy did not work. She moved to the outside lane with seven laps remaining but only succeeded in overtaking after two laps. Having suffered a significant physical disadvantage, Choi soon lost the lead to Santos and Fontana. In the final stretch, she fought hard on the inside lane to attempt a comeback but it was not enough to change her position. Lee Yu-bin, who fell behind from the start, failed to find a clear opportunity until two laps remained. In the last lap, she targeted the inside lane, overtook two competitors, and fiercely chased Anne Desmet (Belgium, 1:28.166) before the finish line but missed qualifying for the final by just 0.004 seconds.

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