Kim Gil-ri (19, Seongnam City Hall), a promising female short track speed skater who successfully completed her debut on the senior stage, showed her determination to rise to No. 1 in the world rankings shyly but confidently.
The short track team, including Park Ji-won (Seoul City Hall), who stands tall as the signboard of men’s short track, returned to Korea through Incheon Airport on the 14th after completing the 2022-23 season International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup series.
Compared to Park Ji-won in the men’s short track who swept 14 gold medals by herself, the women’s team’s performance was a bit disappointing. Existing signboards such as Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall) and Shim Seok-hee (Seoul City Hall) fell somewhat short of expectations.
But there are also clear harvests. Gilli Kim, who swept the junior stage, took her first senior stage and achieved results beyond expectations. Kim Gil-ri won the overall first place in the national team selection in May last year and wore the Taegeuk mark, and showed his true value this season.
In the final ranking of the 1st to 6th World Cup scores, Gilly Kim ranked fourth in the women’s division, following Susan Schulting (Netherlands, 1062 points), Courtney Saro (Canada, 776 points), and Hanne Desmet (Belgium, 744 points). It is a higher ranking than Shim Seok-hee (Seoul City Hall, 700 points), who ranked 6th, and Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall, 572 points), who ranked 9th.
In particular, Kim Gil-ri performed a golden run in the women’s 1500m in the 2nd and 5th competitions, taking first place (450 points) in the World Cup rankings in this event, and kept the lead in the 1500m in the world rankings.
At the scene of her return to Korea, Kim Gil-ri put on a shy expression when she saw many reporters. He said, “I am happy that I finished my first senior stage well.”
Gilly Kim said, “I wanted to keep first place in the 1500m because I had better results than I expected in the first and second competitions. We are happy to be able to achieve that goal,” he added.
Through competition with world-class players such as Schulting, Gilly Kim has grown a handful.
He looked back, saying, “I had a lot of experience in terms of racing during the competition,” and “I came to know the parts that I was not familiar with one by one.” He then looked back, saying, “Overall, I was very lacking in leading the race.”
Even so, he made a bold expression, saying, “I thought I was the best physically than the other players.”
Gili Kim, who gained confidence through the world stage, was determined to continue the momentum at the ISU World Championships, which will be held at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul for three days from the 10th of next month.
He emphasized, “Because it is a game where a lot of Korean fans come, I will prepare with more effort than now.”
He still has a youthful expression, but his gaze is looking at the highest place. When asked about the “goal he wants to achieve,” he confidently said, “No. 1 in the world rankings” without hesitation. Many fans are looking forward to seeing how far Gilly Kim, the ‘future’ of the world’s strongest Korean short track speed skating, can grow.
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