Roads that are invisible no matter how much you look at them can sometimes be seen only when you look far away. It was the same for Park Ji-won (Seoul City Hall), who emerged as the ace of the short track national team by winning as many as 14 gold medals in the 2022-2023 season International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup series. After the 2015-2016 season, he became distant from the national team and left the two Olympics in Pyeongchang and Beijing, but rather, this was the time for Park Ji-won to realize the true fun of short track speed skating.
In the end, Park Ji-won easily erased the vacancy of his national team and even embraced the crystal glove given to the overall winner of the World Cup from this season. Park Ji-won, who responded to an interview with the Maeil Business Newspaper after becoming the proud world No. 1 player, looked back on the time she was eliminated from the national team selection and said, “The Olympics is the dream of athletes, so it would be a lie if I said there was no regret after being eliminated.” However, he thinks that even with the same dropout, there has been a change. Park Ji-won looked back, saying, “If I was upset and frustrated because it was my first failure during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, I had no regrets because I worked harder during the Beijing Winter Olympics, and I thought it was a time of learning that no one could try.” “Instead of ignoring the Olympics, I watched all the games live and learned the strengths of other athletes,” he said. “It was the hardest time to win the gold medal in the 1500m World Cup, which was nerve-wracking, and I think the last gold medal will be remembered for a long time,” was his impression after finishing this season.
Then, what was the secret to Park Ji-won’s ability to learn from watching other people’s games and change herself? Park Ji-won먹튀검증, who received the question, said, “I saw it from the audience’s point of view, but I enjoyed it because I knew what the current players would do and the direction they were going in.” I felt it again. So when I won 14 gold medals this season, I tried variously so that the other person was confused whether to lead from the front or overtake from the back, and even if I overtake, it was an in-course or an out-course.” Park Ji-won, who liked soccer and even followed Son Heung-min’s signature ‘click ceremony’ when he won the championship, said, “I think it’s no different from dribbling in soccer. It’s the same as if the defender doesn’t know whether I’m going left or right to increase the chance of passing it.” clearly explained.
As a result, the event in which Park Ji-won showed particular strength was the 1000m, which had both short and medium distance characteristics. Park Ji-won laughed, saying, “Because 1000m is an ambiguous and tricky distance, there are various players with good agility and good physical strength, so it is easy for variables to occur. I think it was advantageous to me because I rode in various ways so that I could respond to any situation.” .
Park Ji-won, however, confided that he felt that power alone was a part to be supplemented. He said, “Foreign players have good instant power, so I decided to increase the proportion of weight training too. There are trial and error, but I am checking which training will be effective for me by measuring and testing each time.”
Park Ji-won, who has already turned 28 in Korean age, has the idea of continuing to train herself and going to the 2026 Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. But that doesn’t mean the Olympics aren’t his everything. Park Ji-won looked back and said, “When I was preparing for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the Beijing Winter Olympics, I really spent four years looking at the Olympics. As a result, I think there were many times when I missed important things on the way to the Olympics.”
Next, Park Ji-won said, “I thought to advance step by step this season, so I won a lot of gold medals, and eventually became the first Crystal Globe winner. I didn’t expect to win so many gold medals, and there was no race like it. Since the track is attractive, I think I can go to the Olympics if I just do the things in front of me one by one.”