Milan: Less than 24 hours after short track speed skating legend Choi Min-jeong announced the end of her Olympic career, her appreciative teammates congratulated the outgoing captain on a memorable run to South Korean sports record books. Moments after winning the silver medal in the women's 1,500 meters at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Friday night, Choi said she will not compete in another Olympics. It was the seventh medal of Choi's career, making her the most decorated South Korean Olympian.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Choi made her announcement in her post-race interview, and it caught her teammates by surprise. Kim Gil-li, who beat Choi for the 1,500m gold and teamed up with her for the 3,000m relay gold, became quite emotional when told of Choi's comments made minutes before Kim's own interview. Having had a few more hours to digest the news, Kim was able to give her teammate and mentor a more proper farewell on Saturday.
"It has been an honor to compete alongside Min-jeong on such a big stage," Kim said at the short track national team's press conference at Korea House in Milan. "She has done a wonderful job as our captain. We created some unforgettable memories together here."
Though Choi, 27, served as the team captain, she was the second-youngest member of the quintet. Lee So-yeon, the team's senior at 32, said she still admired Choi for her work ethic and her leadership qualities. "I think she should stick around a little longer," Lee said with a smile. "But I also know how much of a grind it has been for her to get to this point. So I fully support her decision."
Shim Suk-hee, 29, has a much different history with Choi than others. The two were once close friends, representing the future of South Korean short track when they skated together at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. However, in expletive-laden text messages sent to a coach during that Olympics, belatedly revealed in late 2021, Shim denigrated her then teammates and even hinted she would intentionally trip up Choi if they ended up in the same race. Shim was suspended but was later reunited with Choi on the national team. The two have since maintained a professional relationship on the ice but are not believed to be on speaking terms off the ice.
Still, that didn't keep Shim from offering her congratulations on Choi's career on Saturday. "She already had so much on her plate preparing for individual races and she still took time to work with the rest of us on the relay," Shim said. "The responsibilities as our captain must have been tough to handle, and I want to thank for giving her best effort."
Noh Do-hee, 30, hinted that she would have preferred to have heard the news directly from Choi. "I only found out through her interview. I was upset when I heard it," Noh said. "I thought we were always going to be together. She doesn't often show her emotions and I figured it must have been really difficult for her to go through what she's gone through."
Choi reiterated that this was her last Olympics but added that she hadn't decided whether she will continue to skate in other international events. Choi offered a moment of levity with a joke on Lee's age. "So-yeon was really inspiring. Whenever I saw her, I told myself, 'She's so old and she's still doing this. So why can't I?'" Choi said with a laugh. "I ran into her in the weight room quite a few times and we trained side by side. She really kept me going here and I want to thank her for her support."