At the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, the South Korean delegation failed to add to its medal tally on the 10th, the fourth day of the medal race, local time.
The Korea short track national team finished third in the mixed 2,000m relay semifinal at the Milan Ice Skating Arena and failed to reach the final (A final), then placed sixth overall after the ranking round (B final). In this event, which was newly introduced at the 2022 Beijing Games, Korea was also eliminated early then, leaving regrets, and this time again the effort did not lead to a medal.
With Chey Min-jung, Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall), Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Office) and Lim Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall) in the semifinal, Korea faced Canada, Belgium and the United States in the same heat. During the race, a U.S. skater leading the pack slipped and fell, collided with the trailing Kim Gil-li, and Korea lost its rhythm. The national team filed a protest requesting an advance based on a U.S. penalty for the incident, but it was not accepted.
While the mixed relay ended in disappointment, in the individual events Chey Min-jung, Kim Gil-li and Lee So-yeon (Sports Toto) advanced through the women's 500m heats to the quarterfinals, and Lim Jong-eon, Hwang Dae-heon and Shin Dong-min (Korea University) also reached the men's 1,000m quarterfinals.
In men's singles figure skating, Cha Jun-hwan (Seoul Metropolitan Government) scored a total of 92.72 points in the short program at the Milan Ice Skating Arena to place sixth and advance to free skating. Cha Jun-hwan, who set a personal season best in the short, delivered a near-flawless program that included a quadruple salchow, shaking off the disappointment from the earlier team event. By contrast, Kim Hyun-gyum (Korea University) finished 26th and did not make the free program, ending his first Olympics.
In women's singles luge, Jung Hye-seon (Gangwon Provincial Office) ranked 24th in combined time through the third run at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Sliding Center and missed out on the final fourth run for the top 20. Jung Hye-seon, who began as a weightlifter, switched to luge in high school and, after three attempts, made her Olympic debut, gaining valuable experience.
In the men's 20km individual biathlon, Choi Doo-jin (Pocheon City Hall) finished 85th, and in men's moguls freestyle skiing qualifying, Jung Dae-yun (Seoul Ski Association) placed 27th and will try again to reach the final in the second qualifying round. Lee Yoon-seung (Kyunghee University) and Yoon Shin-i (Bongpyeong High School) will also look for opportunities in additional qualifying.
Norway reasserted its presence at the event. Johannes Klaebo won the men's sprint classic in cross-country, securing his second gold of these Games, and Norway stayed atop the table with six golds. Korea, backed by one silver and one bronze secured in snowboarding, sat tied for 14th with China and New Zealand.