Home > Sports > Olympic Sports

Para cross-country skier wins record 3rd medal for Korea

Published: 12 Mar. 2026, 10:07

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Korean para cross-country skier Kim Yun-ji celebrates after winning silver in the women's 10-kilometer interval start sitting event at the 2026 Winter Paralympics at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Tesero, Italy, on March 11. [YONHAP]

Para cross-country skier Kim Yun-ji captured her third medal of the ongoing Winter Paralympics in northern Italy on Wednesday.

By taking the silver medal in the women's 10-kilometer interval start sitting event at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Tesero, Kim also set the record for the most medals by a Korean athlete at a single Winter Paralympics.

Shin Eui-hyun had the previous mark with two medals, a gold and a bronze, in para cross-country skiing at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics.

In Wednesday's event, Kim took second place with a time of 26:51.6, 20 seconds behind the champion, Oksana Masters of the United States.

Cross-country skiing is a sport where athletes ski at high speeds on a course built on snow-covered mountains and fields.The race was held with athletes starting at 30-second intervals and completing four laps of the 2.5-kilometer course.

Kim started 16th out of 19 athletes, following the interval start system, which places higher-seeded athletes later in the starting line. She dominated the race from the outset.

Kendall Gretsch of the U.S. finished 36 seconds behind Kim for the bronze.

Korean para cross-country skier Kim Yun-ji races during the women's 10-kilometer interval start sitting event at the 2026 Winter Paralympics at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Tesero, Italy, on March 11. [YONHAP]

Kim had earlier won gold in the women's individual sitting event in para biathlon and silver in the women's sprint sitting event in para cross-country skiing.

With Kim's silver, Korea has also set its own Winter Paralympics medals record with four total medals.

In addition to Kim's three medals, Lee Je-hyuk won a bronze in para snowboard.

With just five days remaining before the end of the Winter Paralympics, the Korean team has already easily surpassed its initial goal of one gold medal, one bronze medal and a top 20 finish in the overall standings.

Kim, who has been active across both biathlon and cross-country, will pursue another medal in the biathlon sprint pursuit on Friday.

BY LIM JEONG-WON, YONHAP [[email protected]]