[26.03.15] Kim Yunji Sets Korean Record with Five Medals at Milano–Cortina Paralympics

Kim Yunji Finishes Paralympics with Gold, Sets Korean Record with Five Medals in a Single Games

📍Gold in Cross-Country 20km at Milano–Cortina Winter Paralympics, Two Golds and Three Silvers Mark Korea’s Best Ever Single-Games Record

Kim Yunji (19, BDH Paras) emerged as the new star of Korean Paralympic sports by setting a historic milestone at the 2026 Milano–Cortina Winter Paralympics. She captured two gold medals and three silver medals, becoming the first Korean athlete to win five medals in a single international multi-sport event.

🔹Gold Medal in Final Race
Kim won the gold medal in the women’s sitting cross-country skiing 20km interval start event on March 15 at the Tesero Cross-Country Stadium in Italy, finishing with a time of 58:23.3.

This marked her second gold medal of the Games and brought her total medal tally to five.

Her record of five medals is the highest number ever achieved by a Korean athlete in a single Olympic or Paralympic Games.

🔹First Double Champion in Korean Winter Paralympics
Kim had already made history on March 8 by winning the gold medal in the women’s sitting biathlon individual 12.5km event, becoming the first Korean female athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Paralympics.

She continued her strong performance by adding three silver medals in cross-country skiing and biathlon events.

With her victory in the final race, she also became the first Korean athlete to win two gold medals in a single Winter Paralympics.

🔹Surpassing Previous Records
Previously, the best Korean performance in the Winter Paralympics was achieved by Shin Eui-hyun at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

Shin won gold in the men’s sitting cross-country classic 7.5km event and added a bronze medal in the 20km freestyle event, becoming the first Korean athlete to win multiple medals at the Winter Paralympics.

However, Shin did not achieve two gold medals in a single Games.

Kim Yunji has now surpassed that milestone.

🔹Historic Record in Korean Sports
Kim’s five medals also represent the highest single-Games medal count in Korean sports history across both the Olympics and the Paralympics.

Previously, the Olympic record was held by short-track speed skater Ahn Hyun-soo (Victor An), who won four medals (three gold and one bronze) at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics.

In the Paralympics, Kang Sung-guk won two gold and two silver medals at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, while Hong Suk-man won one gold and three bronze medals at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Kim’s achievement is particularly remarkable as all five medals were earned in individual events.

🔹Dominant Race on Challenging Snow
The race was held in an interval-start format, with athletes starting at 30-second intervals and completing seven laps of a 2,852-meter course.

Despite heavy snowfall and rain earlier in the day that made the course extremely demanding, Kim maintained strong pace from the beginning.

She overtook legendary athlete Oksana Masters of the United States early in the race.

Although Masters briefly took the lead at the 6km mark, Kim regained the lead at the 9km mark and widened the gap in the final stages.

She ultimately finished 1 minute and 11.2 seconds ahead of Masters.

Germany’s Anja Wicker took the silver medal with a time of 59:17.4, while Masters secured bronze with 59:34.5.

🔹Korea’s Best Winter Paralympics Result
With Kim Yunji’s performance, South Korea finished the Games with two gold, four silver, and one bronze medal.

This marks the best result in the nation’s Winter Paralympic history.

One-line summary : Kim Yunji won two gold and three silver medals at the Milano–Cortina Winter Paralympics, setting a Korean record with five medals in a single Games.