Dordrecht: South Koreans have started strongly at the fourth and final International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Tour event of the season in the Netherlands, as they aim 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.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Rim Jong-un finished first in Heat 3, 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 successfully skated through the preliminaries and heats to reach the quarterfinals.

In the women's 1,000m, three-time Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong will compete in the repechage semifinals on Saturday after finishing first in the repechage quarterfinals, despite initially placing third in Heat 6. Meanwhile, Kim Gil-li and Noh Do-hee advanced directly to the quarterfinals without needing repechage.

On the same day, South Korean teams qualified for the semifinals in both the women's 3,000m relay and the mixed 2,000m relay. The women's team features Noh, Seo Whi-min, Lee So-yeon, and Shim Suk-hee, while the mixed relay team includes Noh, Rim, Lee So-yeon, and Lee Jeong-min.

Quota places for the nine short track events at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games will be allocated based on the three best results out of four in each distance at the four ISU World Tour competitions. The events include the men's and women's 500m, 1,000m, and 1,500m; the men's 5,000m relay; the women's 3,000m relay; and the mixed 2,000m relay.

For both men and women, there are 32 quota places available in the 500m and 1,000m, and 36 quota places for the 1,500m. The relays offer eight quota places for men's and women's events, and 12 for the mixed relay. Each country can earn a maximum of three quota places per individual event and one per relay event. Teams can register three men and three women for individual races, and four men and four women for relays. For the mixed relay, countries with at least two male and two female skaters already qualified in individual races will be prioritized.

South Korea leads the all-time Olympic short track medal table with 26 gold medals and 53 medals overall.