Kim Geon-woo

Kim Geon-woo, also romanized Kim Gun-woo, was a South Korean short track speed skater who raced for the national team and became one of the leading Korean men over middle distances in the late 2010s and mid 2020s. Born on 20 March 1998 in Seoul, he began skating at age six, followed his sister into the sport, and trained with Sports TOTO in Incheon. The International Skating Union listed Seoul as his hometown and place of birth, and he stood 172 cm.

He rose through national selection events in his high school years and joined the senior national programme around 2015. In the 2018-19 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup season he finished first in the men's 1500 metres ranking and second overall, marking him as world class. A three month suspension from national team representation in February 2019 for a dormitory rules breach at the Jincheon training centre kept him out of the 2019 World Championships, yet he returned to international competition and remained a regular force in Korean men's short track.

His strongest late career stretch came in the 2023-24 World Cup season. He won gold in the men's 1000 metres at the opening leg, then took the men's 1500 metres at both the second and third legs, collecting individual golds at three consecutive World Cup events and holding the overall World Cup lead after the third. At the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games he raced the mixed 2000 metre relay preliminary and helped South Korea reach the final. The Korean team won the gold medal, and Kim shared that title with his teammates. An ankle injury in 2024 interrupted his preparation, but he recovered enough to medal with the relay squad in Harbin.

He finished eighth at the 2026 Olympic trials and remained an alternate rather than a full berth holder for the Milan Cortina Winter Games. On 22 June 2026 he announced his retirement through his personal social account, writing that short track had been his entire life since childhood and thanking teammates, coaches and fans who had shared his brightest moments. He pledged to keep cheering for the sport.

On 23 September 2026, three months after that farewell, a notice posted on his social channels announced that he had died aged 28. The family statement asked for understanding that not everyone could be reached individually and requested warm condolences and prayers. No cause of death has been disclosed publicly. Korean sports media including The Herald Business, Maeil Business Newspaper and Aju Press reported the news the same day, recalling his World Cup titles and the suddenness of the loss so soon after retirement. His ISU athlete biography and contemporary race reports preserve the competitive record of a skater who, for a stretch of 2023-24, sat at the top of the World Cup table.