Former short track champ Noh dies of cancer
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Noh Jin-kyu
By Park Jin-hai
Noh Jin-kyu, the former world-record-holding short track speed skater, died of bone cancer at the age of 23, Sunday, the Korea Staking Union said Monday.
Noh, who won the 2010 Junior World Championships, rose to stardom when he won the Overall World Championship title at the 2011 International Skating Union World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, in his first season on the senior level.
He helped Korea win the 2011 World Team Championships in Warsaw, setting new world records in the 1500m and 3000m.
Noh, who had been called the next Viktor Ahn, was first diagnosed with a benign tumor in his left shoulder in September 2013. He postponed surgery to remove the tumor so that he could compete at the Sochi Winter Olympics in February 2014. But he was ruled out of the competition after breaking his elbow during practice, just one month ahead of the Winter Olympics.
While in surgery for the fractured elbow, it was also discovered that the tumor in his left shoulder was malignant.
He had been battling cancer for the past two years.