Short tracker Hwang Dae-heon’s (Gangwon-do) uncomfortable ‘competitive spirit’ continues.
Hwang Dae-heon failed to advance to the semifinals after committing a foul in the second heat of the men’s 1000 meters at the 2024-2025 World Short Track Championships at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul on Sunday.
His rough play cost him the race after leading the field early on.
Hwang, who was racing with Kim Gun-woo (Sports Illustrated), Park No-won (Hwaseong City Hall), Shindaun Shin (Gyeonggi-do), and Hong In-gyu (Korea Gymnastics University), lost the lead to Kim midway through the race before allowing Park to pass him in-course.
Hwang tried to make a move for the lead, but as he drove around the outside of the curve into the inside, he collided with Park. Park was knocked out of the race by the impact, while Hwang finished in second place. However, Hwang’s result was not recognized. The referee issued a penalty and disqualified him.
Hwang has been involved in foul play controversies in every race he competes in lately.
At the World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, he was penalized for colliding with Park Ji-won (Seoul Metropolitan Government) on several occasions.
The world No. 1 missed several gold medal chances at the World Championships and missed out on automatic selection to the national team.
After repeated incidents, the Korea Ice Hockey Federation launched its own investigation on March 22. The results of the investigation, however, showed that there was “no intentionality whatsoever,” but the nightmare continued for Hwang Dae-heon and Park Ji-won. In the men’s 500 meters at the first national team trials on Feb. 6, the two collided around the third curve of the first lap. Hwang Dae-heon overtook Park Ji-won on the inside of the in-course, knocking her backwards and into the fence. Park Ji-won recovered and restarted the race, but was unable to close the gap. The referee did not award a penalty for the incident. Hwang Dae-heon qualified for the final in 토토사이트 second place, while Park Ji-won was eliminated.
As the situation continued to repeat itself, criticism continued to mount. On Hwang’s social media, many people commented on his “lack of sportsmanship” and even pointed out the issue of hancheon versus non-hancheon. Hwang Dae-heon graduated from Hanchee University, while Park Ji-won is from Dankook University.
Fortunately, Park Ji-won overcame a series of bad luck to finish first at the first national team trials.
Park won the men’s 1000 meters final with a time of 1:24.865, beating Kim Tae-sung (Seoul Metropolitan Government – 1:24.981) and Jang Jang-woo (Korea University – 1:26.157).
Second place went to Kim Gun-woo (SportsToken – 55 points) and third to veteran Lee Jung-soo (Seoul Metropolitan Government – 39 points). Hwang Dae-heon finished ninth with five ranking points, earning him a spot in the second round, which is reserved for the top 24 players.
