'No conflict' Park Ji-won wins 1500m at national team trials, beats Hwang Dae-heon

Park Ji-won (Seoul Metropolitan Government) rises to the top.

Park Ji-won took first place in the men's 1500-meter final at the 2024-2025 Short Track National Team Trials at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday with a time of 2 minutes, 15.759 seconds.

It was the second time Park Ji-won had faced Hwang Dae-heon, who had previously clashed at the International Ice Skating Union (ISU) World Cup and World Championships in the 2023-2024 season, with Park missing out on automatic qualification to the national team due to a foul by Hwang.

They clashed again in the 500-meter semifinals of the first selection round, and Park finished the first round with a first-place finish in the 1000 meters on the final day.

On the first day of the second selection, Park Ji-won and Hwang Dae-heon were placed in the same heat in the 1500m semifinals. However, the race ended without any major collisions, with Park taking first place and Hwang finishing third.

Hwang advanced to the final as the best of the top three in their respective groups, setting up a showdown between Park and Hwang once again.

Park Ji-won started the race in the back of the pack and exploded into the lead after the midway point. He then picked up the pace and fought off the chase from the rest of the field, and finished the race in first place, although Jang Jang-woo (Korea University) and Kim Gun-woo (Sportsoto) caught up with him in the final corner.

Hwang Dae-heon (Korea University) was at the front of the field early in the race, but was unable to find the speed in the second half and finished fifth out of seven.

Park Ji-won added 34 points to her first-place finish, adding to the 55 points she earned in the first round of the competition, to finish first overall with 89 points. It was a strong showing for Park, who needs to finish in the top three overall to qualify for the individual competition next season.