‘I hugged my junior who was the king of fouls’ Short track track Park Ji-won reconciles after receiving apology from Hwang Dae-heon

Short track national team member Park Ji-won (left) and junior Hwang Dae-heon. Next Creative

Korean male short track ace Park Ji-won (28, Seoul City Hall) held his junior Hwang Dae-heon (25, Gangwon Provincial Office) in his arms. Although his victory in the international competition was canceled due to a series of fouls, he received a sincere apology.

Park Ji-won’s management company, Next Creative, and Hwang Dae-heon’s agency, Ryan At, issued a statement on the 23rd and announced that the two have reconciled. “The day before, Park Ji-won and Hwang Dae-heon met and had an honest conversation that they had not had before,” he said. “They understood and sympathized with each other, and Hwang Dae-heon offered a sincere apology to Park Ji-won for past situations.”

He continued, “Park Ji-won and Hwang Dae-heon agreed that they should work together to repay the support of short track fans and the public and to become an example for short track juniors.” He added, “The two players decided to do their best in their respective positions and support each other.”

Last season, Park Ji-won ranked first in the men’s rankings of the International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup. At the World Championships held in Seoul last year, he won the 1000m and 1500m races and was automatically selected for the national team.

Park Ji-won, who achieved first place in the World Cup rankings again this season, was expected to perform well at the World Championships as well. However, he was fouled by Hwang Dae-heon one after another, and his second consecutive victory in the 1000m and 1500m was canceled. In the aftermath of Hwang Dae-heon’s pulling foul, Park Ji-won was pushed during the race and hit the fence hard, injuring her neck and head.

Park Ji-won (2nd from right) lost her balance due to a foul by Hwang Dae-heon (No. 12) in the men’s 1000m final at the 2024 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Championships. AP = Yonhap News

As a result, Park Ji-won did not qualify for automatic selection to the national team, which is given to the athlete who won the gold medal and achieved the best performance at the World Championships. In the final of the men’s 1000m 2nd race at the first ISU World Cup held in October last year, Park Ji-won’s victory was canceled due to a foul by Hwang Dae-heon.

Park Ji-won was unfairly forced to participate in the national team selection match. In the first qualifying round held earlier this month, Park Ji-won collided with Hwang Dae-heon in the men’s 500m semifinals while overtaking him, and his progress to the finals was canceled.

Nevertheless, Park Ji-won performed well in the remaining games and earned the Taegeuk mark in first place. On the other hand, Dae-Heon Hwang was not selected as a representative as he finished in 11th place due to poor performance, including fouls on other players.

After the selection match, Park Ji-won responded to Hwang Dae-heon’s apology, saying, “Until now, I had to focus on the representative selection match, so I couldn’t check even the smallest details,” and added, “I will think about whether to accept it later.” In the end, he happily hugged his junior in response to Hwang Dae-heon’s sincere apology.