Watching the PyeongChang Olympics when I was in 5th grade Korea’s first gold medal at the same venue
Gangwon 2024 short track men’s 1,500m final men’s gold medal goes to Joo Jae-hee
Joo Jae-hee is cheering as he crosses the finish line first in the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games short track men’s 1,500m final held at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon-do on the afternoon of the 20th.
Short track star Joo Jae-hee (17, Hancom High School) visited the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon-do, where the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics short track competition was held, in February 2018 during the winter vacation of her fifth grade elementary school year.
Joo Jae-hee, who followed his older brother into short track racing at the age of 8, developed his dream by watching Korean athletes play in the stands.
At that time, Joo Jae-hee was completely fascinated by the performance of Lin Xiaojun (27, Korean name Lim Hyo-jun), who won the gold medal with the Taegeuk symbol in the men’s 1,500m.
He promised himself that one day he would win a gold medal at the Olympics.
Joo Jae-hee, who grew up well, kept her promise after six years.
He was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 2 minutes 21.906 seconds in the short track men’s 1,500m final at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games (Gangwon 2024) held at the Gangneung Ice Arena on the 20th, giving the Korean team its first gold medal.
After crossing the finish line, he held an intense ceremony, clenching his hands.
It was the same ceremony that Lin Xiaojun held after winning the gold medal at the same venue six years ago.
Lim Hyo-jun, who won the gold medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics
Joo Jae-hee, who met in the joint coverage area after the game, said, “I was very impressed by Lim Hyo-jun’s ceremony at the Pyeongchang Olympics. He happened to win a gold medal at the same place, so I followed the same example.”
He continued, “It was hard to hold back tears when the national anthem rang out from the podium,” and added, “I’m happy to let people know that ‘short track is, after all, Korean.’”
Looking back on that day’s game, he said, “I was embarrassed because the Chinese players had a well-planned strategy, but they did their best until the end. Since the main event was long distance, there were no physical problems.”
Regarding his goal for this competition, he courageously expressed his ambition, saying, “To win gold medals in all four events I participate in.”
He also introduced a promise with his friend of the same age who attends the same school, male figure skater Kim Hyun-gyeom.
Joo Jae-hee laughed, saying, “(Kim) Hyun-gyeom and I are friends who went to elementary school together, so we asked to win the gold medal together at the finals ceremony.”
Joo Jae-hee will attempt to become the first Korean athlete to win two gold medals in the men’s 1,000m held at the same venue on the 21st. 19가이드03