It is still unclear whether Lim Hyo-joon, 28, will be able to participate in the short track World Cup in the remaining season. Lim Hyo-joon, the gold medalist at the 23rd Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, became a naturalized Chinese citizen in June 2020 after giving up his Korean nationality. 파워볼실시간
On the next day of the new year, Im revealed himself traveling on crutches and wearing a guard. The Chinese ice skating community and fans were very worried, saying, “Is your injury still serious?”
Lim Hyo-joon injured his heel at the 2023-24 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track 3rd World Cup in Beijing, China on Dec. 9 last year. At that time, it was known that he could fully recover after 14 days, but the situation does not seem to be going as expected.
“By the standards of the general public, not the athlete, he is all better. He is using wheelchairs (not just crutches) to move around, but it is not because he cannot walk alone. To reduce the risk of additional injuries and get better as soon as possible,” Lim explained.
“Lim Hyo-joon’s injury has basically healed. He uses crutches to avoid accidental damage as much as possible,” said Teng Xun, a Chinese portal site.
However, it cannot be denied that the situation is more serious than the initial diagnosis that “you can train and participate normally after two weeks.”
This is why there is a question of whether Lim Hyo-joon will be able to play the rest of the short track World Cup, which will end with the 5th Dresden competition in Germany on February 10-12 (Korea Standard Time) and the 6th Gdansk competition in Poland on February 17-19.
This season, the Chinese team won a gold medal and a silver medal in the mixed relay of the first and third World Cups of short track speed skating with Lim Hyo-joon. This is comparable to the no-medal match at the fourth Seoul event without Lim.
He is also a member of the gold medal in men’s short track speed skating competition 2 (Montreal, Canada) and the bronze in men’s third competition. In individual competitions, he is ranking third in men’s 500m World Cup, which earned a bronze medal in the second competition.
Lim Hyo-joon stood tall as the world number one short track speed skater with five gold medals, including the individual all-around, at the 44th International Skating Union World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2019. After naturalizing in China, he won the gold medal in the men’s relay and the silver medal in the mixed relay at the 47th World Championships in Seoul in 2023.
The Olympic champion was 1,500 meters, but with the change of nationality, the main event also changed to 500 meters. After winning two World Cups last season, he became the first to cross the finish line of the World Championship, but he missed the gold medal due to his mistake in violation of rules (not wearing measuring equipment).
South Korea is the best short track speed skating team recognized by everyone, but there is no top 5 men’s 500m world ranking since the 2022-23 season when Lim Hyo-joon appeared on the international stage as China’s national team.
If this trend continues, Lim Hyo-joon will be able to aim for the 500m short track gold medal, which is relatively less in South Korea’s check, at the 25th Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics in 2026, under the premise that he will maintain his skills until the age of 30.