From short tracker Kim Gil-li to teen snowboarder Choi Gaon to figure skater Cha Jun-hwan, here’s your guide to Korean contenders chasing an Olympic medal in Italy
General view of the Olympic rings covered in snow ahead of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. (Reuters-Yonhap) It’s that time of the year again: The 25th Winter Olympic Games is set to bring the world’s top winter athletes together in Milan and Cortina, Italy, next month.
Set against Italy’s striking urban and alpine landscapes, more than 3,000 athletes from around the world will compete from Feb. 6-22 across 116 events in 16 sports, sporting drama and spectacle.
South Korea is sending a stellar team, with a 71-strong squad competing across six disciplines, setting its sights on winning at least three gold medals.
Four years ago in Beijing, Team Korea collected six medals — two gold, two silver and two bronze — all concentrated in short track and speedskating.
The country now looks to further cement its grip on skating while also targeting podium finishes across a wider range of disciplines, from snowboarding to curling.
Here’s a list of Korean athletes eyeing the podium at the Olympics.
Choi Min-jeong, Rim Jong-un, Kim Gil-li, Hwang Dae-heon / short track
Fresh off a five-medal haul from the past two Winter Olympics, South Korea’s short track speedskating team is entering Milan Cortina 2026 with multiple gold-medal hopes.
Short track speedskater Choi Min-jeong (Yonhap) Veteran star Choi Min-jeong is chasing history with a bid for an unprecedented third straight Olympic title in the women’s 1,500 meters, while teenage sensation Rim Jong-un is arriving at his first Games riding dominant domestic and World Tour performances.
Short track speedskater Rim Jong-un (Yonhap) Rising ace Kim Gil-li, dubbed “Lambogilli” for her blistering speed, has added further firepower in the women’s individual and relay events.
Olympic champion Hwang Dae-heon still remains a central medal threat across the men’s distances and relay.
With proven champions and emerging stars aligned, the short track squad could deliver the country’s first gold medal on Feb. 10, when it opens competition in the mixed 2,000-meter relay at 8 p.m. at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Kim Min-sun / Speedskating
Speed skater Kim Min-sun (Yonhap) With the hopes of following the steps of two-time Olympic speedskating gold medalist Lee Sang-hwa, Kim Min-sun is a medal hopeful in the women’s 500 meters at her third Olympics.
Despite a shaky start to her season in November, Kim rebounded in December by claiming her first World Cup medal of the campaign, finishing third in her signature event, the women’s 500 meters, trying to peak in time for the big game.
The 26-year-old ruled the women’s 500 meters in the 2022-23 season, stringing together five straight World Cup victories and a silver, although her blistering pace cooled in the seasons that followed.
Kim drew attention as a prodigy well before reaching the senior ranks. In September 2017, she clocked 37.78 seconds to break the junior world record in the women’s 500 meters, breaking the record previously held by Lee Sang-hwa.
Kim Jun-ho / Speedskating
Speedskater Kim Jun-ho (Yonhap) Speedskater Kim Jun-ho is eyeing his first Olympic medal at his fourth Olympic Games.
Kim, 31, is tipped as a strong medal contender in the men’s 500 meters. In November, he broke the South Korean national record at the first speedskating World Cup event of the season in Utah, with a time of 33.78 seconds.
Kim’s previous Olympics have been anything but smooth. At his debut at the Sochi 2014 Games, he finished 21st. Four years later in PyeongChang, his skate blade caught in the ice at the start, putting him in 12th. In Beijing 2022, Kim missed the podium by just 0.04 seconds, finishing sixth with 34.54 seconds, edged out by Japanese bronze medalist Wataru Morishige.
Chung Jae-won / Speedskating mass start
Chung Jae-won entered the sport as a speedskating talent rich with promise.
The world caught its first glimpse of Chung’s potential at PyeongChang 2018 when the then-16-year-old powered Korea to silver in the men’s team pursuit.
Speedskater Chung Jae-won (Yonhap) Chung delivered an ever-more defining performance at Beijing 2022, capturing silver in the men’s mass start at 7:47.18, finishing just 0.07 seconds behind Belgium’s Bart Swings and edging teammate Lee Seung-hoon — a four-time Olympian — by 0.02 seconds. It was his first individual Olympic medal.
Chung has shown steady form throughout the 2025-26 World Cup season, collecting two silver medals across four men’s mass start races at World Cup stops one through four and climbing to fourth in the overall rankings.
Kim Jin-su / Bobsled
The South Korean bobsled team is once again daring to make history, just like they did by winning silver at PyeongChang 2018, with pilot Kim Jin-su at the helm in both the two-man and four-man events.
Kim Jin-su and Kim Hyeong-geun are in action during the two-man bobsled event during the IBSF Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup in Germany on Jan. 17. (Reuters-Yonhap) His squad currently sits fifth in the two-man world rankings and eighth in the four-man event, keeping medal hopes alive heading into Italy.
Kim steered his four-man sled to a World Cup bronze medal in November on the Italian track set to host the Winter Olympics. Alongside pushmen Kim Sun-wook and Kim Hyeong-geun and brakeman Lee Geon-u, the team delivered South Korea’s first-ever World Cup podium finish in the four-man event.
After the game, Kim’s team posted mixed results in the next three World Cup races, finishing seventh, sixth and 14th.
The two-man team delivered its strongest showing at the final World Cup in Germany on Jan. 18, placing fourth — 0.47 seconds off the podium behind Germany’s Friedrich-led sled. Though the medals never came across seven World Cup races, four fourth-place finishes — including one on the Olympic track at the season opener — have fueled optimism that the gap is narrowing at the right time.
Choi Gaon / Snowboarding
Teen snowboarder Choi Gaon is knocking loudly on the podium door at her first-ever Olympics.
Snowboarder Choi Gaon (All That Sports) South Korea has never struck gold in Olympic snowboarding, and Choi now carries the nation’s best hope. Standing in her way is two-time reigning champion Chloe Kim, the Korean American star chasing history as the first snowboarder to complete an Olympic three-peat, though she currently sustains a shoulder injury.
Earlier this month, she bagged her third World Cup victory of the season, cementing her status as a medal contender.
She won the women’s halfpipe title at the most recent International Ski and Snowboard Federation World Cup event in Laax, Switzerland, finishing first with a total score of 92.50 points. Rise Kudo of Japan finished runner-up with 82.75 points, while China’s Cai Xuetong rounded out the podium with 75.25.
In December, the 17-year-old won World Cup crowns in China and the US.
Lee Chae-un / Snowboarding
The 2023 halfpipe world champion is back, determined to defend his crown. Lee Chae-un is heading to his second Olympics after Beijing 2022 to chase his first Olympic medal.
Snowboarder Lee Chae-un (Instagram @lilkeytaki) Halfpipe rankings are determined by the judges’ overall impression, with each judge giving a score ranging from 0-100 based on amplitude, difficulty, variety, execution and progression — areas in which Lee has already proven he can soar above the rest.
The 19-year-old burst onto the global stage with a surprise victory at the 2023 FIS Snowboard World Championships, capturing Korea’s first world championship medal in skiing or snowboarding.
At just 16, Lee became the youngest men’s halfpipe world champion in history — a milestone that underscored his prodigious talent. He has since continued his ascent, sweeping gold in both slopestyle and halfpipe at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games and adding another title in slopestyle at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games.
Cha Jun-hwan / Figure skating
Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan is heading to his third Olympic Games after winning the men’s singles title at the 80th National Figure Skating Championships with a total score of 277.84 points earlier this month.
Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan poses for a picture holding his silver medal he won at the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in China at the Incheon Airport on Monday. (Yonhap) Cha is only the second South Korean figure skater to appear at three consecutive Winter Olympics, following Jung Sung-il, who competed in 1988, 1992 and 1994.
The 24-year-old capped his Olympic buildup with a runner-up finish at the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in China on Jan. 25, posting a season-best total of 273.62 points.
Cha made his Olympic debut on home ice at PyeongChang 2018, finishing 15th — the best-ever Olympic result by a South Korean male figure skater until he raised the bar again in Beijing, placing fifth.
Women’s curling team
South Korean women’s curling team from left: Seol Ye-eun, Gim Eun-ji, Kim Su-ji, Kim Min-ji and Seol Ye-ji. (Yonhap) Led by skip Gim Eun-ji alongside Seol Ye-eun, Kim Su-ji, Kim Min-ji and Seol Ye-ji, South Korea’s women’s curling team is setting its sights on the podium.
Gim will be making her second Olympic appearance — and her first since 2014 — while teammates Kim Min-ji, Kim Su-ji, Seol Ye-eun and Seol Ye-ji are set to make their Olympic debuts.
South Korea will be one of 10 teams competing in the round-robin stage, with each team playing once against the others, and the top four advancing to the playoffs. The Korean team will open its campaign on Feb. 12 with an evening showdown against host Italy. While South Korea is entering as the world No. 3 — 26 places above Italy — an early clash with the home side could still pose a stiff test for the Olympic newcomers.
junheee@heraldcorp.com