The South Korean speed skating team faced a disappointing performance at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, marking the first time since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games that the team has ended the competition without any medals. On February 21, the men's and women's mass start events took place at the Milan speed skating stadium, where the South Korean athletes failed to clinch any medals despite previous successes in the sport. Jeong Jae-won, one of South Korea's standout competitors who won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and another silver in mass start at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, finished 5th with a time of 8:04.60.

In the men's final, while Jeong attempted a strategy to catch the leaders, the race was dominated by gold medalist Jorrit Bergsma from the Netherlands, who clocked a time of 7:55.50, and silver medalist Viktor Hald Torup from Denmark at 8:00.52. The strategy employed by the top two competitors involved increasing their speed in the middle of the race, which ultimately created a gap that Jeong and other competitors failed to close, leading to a frantic battle for the remaining podium positions among the rest.

After the race, Jeong expressed his disappointment, emphasizing the effort he put into his preparation, only to feel it might have been an illusion of readiness. He noted his awareness of his competitors' strategies, but ultimately, the outcome did not meet his expectations. Alongside Jeong, fellow racer Jo Seung-min was also eliminated, finishing 13th in his semifinal heat, while Park Ji-woo ended the women's mass start final in 14th place, concluding a difficult competition for the South Korean team that had aimed for better results based on previous Olympic performances.