Short Track Speed Skating at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games:

South Koreans had won the previous two editions of this event, and another South Korean was expected to win in Nagano. At the 1997 World Championships, held at the Olympic venue, then junior [Kim Dong-Seong] had claimed the title, winning the 1,000 m in the process. But that race had seen a disputed disqualification of his chief opponent, [Marc Gagnon] of Canada. Gagnon had later lowered the world record to 1:28.230, proving his capabilities in the event.

But Gagnon failed to make the semi-finals, being disqualified for obstructing [Lee Jun-Hwan] in their quarter-final heat. The semi-finals then saw the 1994 500 m champion, [Chae Ji-Hun] also out due to disqualification. Kim, however, did make the final, along with [Li Jiajun] of China, 33-year-old )veteran) [Andy Gabel] (USA) and [Éric Bédard] (Canada). In the final, Li was in the lead most of the way, ,Kim snuck up from behind on the final curve to edge his blade over the line first.