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Short tracker Kim Gil-li tripped up again after topping 1,000-meter preliminary

Published: 15 Feb. 2026, 11:57

LEE JAE-LIM
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Korea’s Kim Gil-li collides with a Dutch skater after finishing first in her heat to advance to the quarterfinals of the women’s 1,000-meter at the Milan Ice Skating Arena during the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on Feb. 14. [NEWS1]

MILAN — Korean short track skater Kim Gil-li found herself taking a tumble again after making contact with another competitor, though this time she escaped without serious injury — and only after the race was over.

Kim, 22, finished first in Heat 6 of the women’s 1,000 meters preliminaries at the Milan Ice Skating Arena during the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Saturday.

Skating a controlled race throughout, Kim trailed in second place before executing a clean inside pass to overtake the Netherlands’ Michelle Velzeboer and finish in first. However, after crossing the line, Velzeboer lost her balance and lightly bumped Kim, causing both skaters to fall to the ice.

Fortunately, Kim was not seriously hurt. She got up on her own and exited the rink.

The incident marked another close call for Kim. On Tuesday, during the mixed 2,000-meter relay quarterfinals, she narrowly avoided a collision when U.S. skater Corinne Stoddard fell. But in the semifinals, Stoddard again lost her edge and slid outward — directly into Kim, who was skating on the outside line. Kim fell in that collision, and although teammate Choi Min-jeong quickly tagged her to continue the relay, Korea finished third and failed to advance to the final.

Kim suffered a right arm injury in the crash but resumed training the following day and returned to competition.

Despite yet another tumble on Saturday, Kim appeared physically fine. Still, she has endured repeated misfortune at these Games, getting caught up in other skaters’ falls.

Stoddard also went down in the women’s 1,000-meter preliminaries later that day, falling in a corner and failing to advance to the quarterfinals.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK RIN, KO BONG-JUN [[email protected]]