South Korea's short track youngster won the 2026 Winter Olympics in an upset, looking forward to competing with Dan Zi-nu and Lim Hyo-jun

Lim Jong-yan, a "high school skater" who won the championship at the Korean short track speed skating national representative selection and qualified for the Winter Olympics for the first time in his life, said with a smile: "I have a real feeling now. Lim Jong-yan said shyly after winning the first place in the men's category at the 2025-2026 short track speed skating Korean national representative selection held at the Mokdong Ice Skating Complex in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 13th local time, "It seems that the results are very good. ”

On the 13th, in the men's 1000m preliminaries of the second stage of the 2025-2026 short track speed skating national representative trials, Lin Zhongyan was skating

Lim Jong-yan caused a big upset in this tryout. In the men's 1500m race of the first stage of the trials held on the 7th, he defeated the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics gold medalist Huang Daxian and the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games double champion Zhang Chengyu and other national representatives and seniors, won the first place, finished 17th in the men's 500m race held on the second day, and ended in the men's 1000m race with a runner-up result. So far, the first stage of the selection competition has ended, and Lin Zhongyan ranks first in the men's group.

Lim Jong-yan then won the first place in the men's 1500m race and the third place in the men's 500m race in the second stage of the trials on the 12th, securing the qualification for the Olympics in advance. Lim Jong-yan, who achieved his goal ahead of schedule, released water in the men's 1000m race held on the 13th and finished the last run in the Group B final.

In the men's 500m preliminaries of short track speed skating at the 2025 Asian Winter Games, Lin Xiaojun, the national representative of Chinese short track speed skating, is galloping.

In this competition, Lin Zhongyan's masterpiece is the men's 1500m as the first race of the first stage of the trials. Halfway through the race, he was looking for opportunities from behind, eventually taking the lead through the outside lane, and then skating at full speed without giving his senior rival any chance to overtake. "My biggest strength was fitness," he recalls. The coach convinced me that I gave it a try and eventually stuck with it, so it got a good result. ”

Now Lim Jong-yan dreams of being on the Olympic podium. When asked to choose his favorite competitor among foreign players, he said: "At the moment, William Danzinu (Canada) is doing well in international competitions, and I want to compete with him. Danzinu is the world's top athlete with three golds and one silver at the 2025 ISU World Championships and the overall men's title on the 2024-2025 World Tour.

Lim said he was looking forward to competing with Lim Hyo-jun, who had been naturalized in China. "Seeing Lim Hyo-jun win the gold medal at PyeongChang 2028, I dreamed of participating in the Olympics," he said. It would be great to be able to compete at Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026. ”

Lim Jong-yan was interviewed at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 13th.

When asked if he was confident of beating both fighters, he replied, "I'll work hard to prepare." "Lim Jong-yan has been making his mark on the junior stage since the 2023-2024 season. At the ISU Junior Short Track Speed Skating World Championships in February, he raised the anticipation by winning the men's 1,000m and 1,500m races.