Team USA’s Brandon Kim competes in the men’s short-track speedskate 500-meter race on Jan. 20 in Lake Placid. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — Korean skaters won most short-track speedskating events during the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Winter World University Games from Jan. 19 to 21 in the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, adding six medals on the first day alone with clean sweeps of the podium in both the women’s and men’s 1,500-meter races.

Short track differs from long track in that it is skated indoors, on an 111-meter hockey rink, and with a greater risk factor than its more orderly long track sibling. While the long track typically involves Olympic-style racing, in which skaters race in pairs, the short-track discipline is more strategic. Sometimes called “roller derby on ice,” several skaters jockey for position in short track, taking bigger risks to move up. Crashes and falls are common. Watching short-track skaters of any age can be nerve-wracking, but elite competition frequently appears death-defying. Some countries tend to dominate in the sport, and Korea is one of them.

Teammates Minjeong Choi, Geonhee Kim, and Whimin Seo represented Korea atop the podium in the first final of the competition, the women’s 1,500, winning first, second, and third place, respectively. For Choi, the placement was an especially meaningful triumph.

“I’m really happy that my team was able to sweep the podium,” Choi said in a statement. “This will be my first and last University games, so I’m really happy with the result.”

Corinne Laine Stoddard, who represented the U.S. at the 2022 Olympics, placed fourth.

In the men’s 1,500, Korea continued its winning spree with Taesung Kim capturing the gold medal. Teammates Jeongmin Lee won silver, while Sungwoo Jang earned bronze.

Team USA’s Brandon Kim, a World Cup two-time bronze medalist, rounded out the top five with a fifth-place finish.

The Korean team also triumphed in the mixed team relay semi-final, skating their 2,000-meter race in 2:42.988, the fastest time in the competition. They finished just a bit ahead of Team USA, who placed second with a time of 2:43.309. They would join skaters from the People’s Republic of China and France in the final on Jan. 20; Team France won with a time of 2:50.946 after the U.S., China and Korea teams earned penalties. Kazakhstan clinched silver after their win in the B final heat, and Japan claimed bronze with their second-place finish in the B final.

On Jan. 20, Choi won her second gold medal after an amazing 500-meter race, finishing with a time of 44.050. China’s Yichao Wang placed behind her in silver, and the bronze medal went to Choi’s teammate Jiyun Park.

Japanese skater Miyata Shogo triumphed in the men’s 500 meters, winning his first medal in the games.

“It was a surprise. Yesterday I skated the 1,500, my strongest event, and wasn’t really confident with it,” Shogo said. “But this time I had a good feeling in my skating. I talked to my coach in Japan and he convinced me to forget about the 1,500 and try to do well in the 500.”

Korea’s Kim Taesung and Li Kongchao of the People’s Republic of China completed the podium, placing second and third respectively. American Brandon Kim finished just behind them in fourth.

The last day of the competition, Jan. 21, yielded more medals for Minjeong Choi and Korea in the 1,000-meter final. She prevailed with a time of 1:38.107, earning her third gold medal of the competition. Anna Seidel of Germany pulled off a silver medal-winning performance, while a fellow member of team Korea, Whimin Seo, secured bronze. American Stoddard finished at the back of the pack in fifth place.

Korean men swept the podium in the 1,000-meter men’s final, repeating their performance after winning medals of all colors in the 1,500-meter race. Sungwoo Jang had the winning time of 1:25.937, while Jeongmin Lee placed second and Taesung Kim came in third.

Team Korea claimed gold again in the last two events of the day, the men’s and women’s relays. With these two additional medals, they earned a total of seven gold medals.

Korean skaters Minjeong Choi, Geonhee Kim, Jiyun Park and Whimin Seo worked together to secure gold with a time of 4:12.557, two seconds faster than second-place finishers China (4:14.642), in the 3,000-meter women’s relay. The U.S. claimed its first and only medal, a bronze, coming in with a time of 4:24.015 with skaters Julia Letai of the University of Utah, Isabella Main, of Marquette University, Corinne Laine Stoddard, of Salt Lake City Community College, Una Willhoite, of the University of Utah, and Libby Williams, of Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs.

Sungwoo Jang, Wonsik Jeong, Taesung Kim and Juneseo Lee rocketed around the track for the men’s 5,000-meter relay, beating team Kazakstan easily with a nearly two seconds faster time of 7:10.689. The Kazakstan athletes skated to a 7:12.409 finish, enough for silver. The Netherlands team came in right behind them to earn the bronze medal.

Korea topped the medal standings, earning 16 medals in total. The People’s Republic of China placed second overall with three medals, while Kazakstan and Japan were tied for third with two medals each.