In his debut Olympic performance, South Korean speed skater Kyu-kyung Min, aged 21, achieved a top 10 finish in the men's 1000m event at the 2026 Winter Olympics held in Milan, Italy. He recorded a time of 1:08.53, placing him 10th among 29 competitors, slightly slower than his personal best of 1:07.79. Despite the pressure of competing at the Olympics, Kyu-kyung expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating that he felt more excitement than nervousness and managed to race as he normally would.

Kyu-kyung Min also shared his aspirations for future competitions, underlining his aim to reach the podium in the next Olympic events. With a crucial 500m race scheduled shortly after his 1000m event, he expressed confidence in his preparation and commitment to improving his results. He is focused on finishing well in the 500m race, emphasizing that achieving a podium position is now his main goal.

The event saw an outstanding performance from the gold medal winner, Jordan Stolz of the USA, who set a new Olympic record with a time of 1:06.28, breaking a 24-year-old record previously held by Gerrit van Pelt of the Netherlands. The silver medal went to the Netherlands' Jorrit Bergsma, while the bronze medal was claimed by Ning Zhongyan from China. Interestingly, another skater who formerly represented South Korea, Kim Min-seok, participated in the race after naturalizing in Hungary, finishing just behind Kyu-kyung in 11th place.