South Korean · Seoul, South Korea · Born 9 September 1998South Korean short track speed skater nicknamed the 'Queen of Korean Short Track,' who became her nation's most decorated Olympian of all time - across both Summer and Winter Games - after her third consecutive Olympics.
Choi Min-jeong was born on 9 September 1998 in Seoul, South Korea, and took up skating as a childhood hobby at age six before joining a local club, citing 2006 Olympic champion Jin Sun-yu as her role model. She broke through at the junior level in 2014, and at just 16 years old won her first senior World Championship title in 2015, taking gold in the 1,000m and 3,000m in Moscow. Choi made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games as a 19-year-old carrying the weight of home-nation expectations, winning gold in the 1,500m - setting an Olympic record in the process - and the 3,000m relay, before crashing out of the 1,000m final. She defended her 1,500m title at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, setting a new Olympic and world record in the semifinal, and added silver medals in the 1,000m and 3,000m relay. That same year she won a fourth overall World Championship title, anchoring Korea's relay team to a dramatic last-curve victory over Canada by 0.034 seconds. At her third Olympics, at Milan-Cortina 2026, Choi won gold in the 3,000m relay before taking silver behind teammate Kim Gil-li in the 1,500m, narrowly missing a bid to become the first short track skater ever to win the same individual event three Games running. That seventh career medal made her, at 27, South Korea's most decorated Olympian of all time across both Summer and Winter Games, surpassing former shooting and archery legends who had each won six. Across her career she has amassed 17 World Championship gold medals and more than 30 gold medals overall in international competition.
Becoming South Korea's most decorated Olympian in history, across both Summer and Winter Games, with a career built on 1,500m dominance
How They Played
Explosive, tactically aggressive short track racer known for powerful acceleration and dominant closing speed particularly in the 1,500m
Lasting Impact
Widely regarded as the greatest female short track speed skater in South Korean history, whose sustained excellence across three Olympic cycles cemented her status as a national icon
Career Honours
- 4x Olympic Gold Medalist (2018x2, 2022, 2026)
- South Korea's most decorated Olympian ever, Summer or Winter (7 medals)
- 4x World Champion (2015, 2016, 2018, 2022)
- World record holder, 1500m
South Korean Athletes