Short track teammates mend fences on ice in pursuit of common goal

Shim Suk-hee of South Korea (17) prepares to push her teammate Choi Min-jeong, 2nd from top, during the semifinals of the women's 3,000-meter relay in short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Feb. 14. Yonhap

MILAN — They were once best of friends, two brilliant athletes representing both the present and the future of South Korean short track speed skating.

But then the relationship between Shim Suk-hee, 29, and Choi Min-jeong, 27, suffered what appeared to be irreparable damage in late 2021, when Shim's expletive-laden text messages sent to a coach during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics got leaked to the media. In those texts, Shim denigrated her teammates and hinted she would intentionally trip up Choi if they ended up in the same race at the Olympics.

In the women's 1,000-meter final at PyeongChang 2018, the two indeed got tangled up when Choi tried to make a pass on the outside.

Although Shim was eventually cleared of race-fixing charges, Choi publicly announced she no longer wanted anything to do with Shim and asked Shim to stop calling or texting her to apologize.

After serving her national team suspension and missing the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she made her way back into the mix and became teammates with Choi again.

However, they only maintained a professional relationship. And Choi refused to let Shim push her for exchanges in the 3,000m relay, which wasn't ideal for competitive purposes.

Shim is considered the strongest skater on the women's team with an excellent relay track record, while Choi is the best all-around skater who always finds another gear in crunch time. For South Korea to get the most out of its women's relay team, it needed Shim to push Choi.

Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Choi decided to put aside her personal feelings and have Shim push her.

"I am a member of the national team, and giving my best in my role is the right thing to do," Choi once said of her decision.

It led to immediate success, as South Korea won the 3,000m relay title at the first International Skating Union World Tour event of the season in October.

Then in the semifinals of the 3,000m at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday night, Shim helped Choi skate into the lead position with her hard push with 10 laps to go.

Kim Gil-li, left, and Shim Suk-hee of South Korea celebrate after winning the semifinal heat in the women's 3,000-meter relay in short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Feb. 14. Yonhap

After South Korea had fallen to second place with six laps remaining, Shim once again thrust Choi forward, giving her teammate enough momentum to regain the lead for the team. South Korea went on to win its semifinal heat and book a ticket to the final scheduled for Wednesday night.

There are still signs that Shim and Choi have not completely mended their fences off the ice. They stand apart, at opposite ends, on podiums and during skater introductions. Immediately after Saturday's race, Shim quickly sought out another teammate, Kim Gil-li, while Choi went to celebrate with Lee So-yeon, the fourth member of the team, and then Kim. When the national team got together to celebrate Shim's birthday at the end of January here, Choi stood off to the side for a group picture.

Still, Choi and Shim both spoke of a deep level of trust within the team Saturday.

"I trusted my teammates, and that led to a great result here," Choi said. "We will try to continue to trust each other and execute our race plans the best we can in the final."

Shim noted how the four skaters all have different body types -- Shim is the lanky one with smooth strides, for instance, while Kim is much shorter and is quick around the corners -- but they have still managed to "come together as one."

"We will try to maintain that level of trust in the final," she said.