Hungary’s Jaszapati among those fighting Korean domination

The second day of competition in short track speed skating at the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games saw no difference from the first when it came to top spots.

On Wednesday, 22 January, Korea triumphed in all three finals at Palavela, the men’s and women’s 500 metres, as well as the mixed team relay.

Although the spotlight was once again firmly on the Koreans, the arena was packed with great skaters from all over the world, each carrying their own story.

One of those is Hungarian Peter Jaszapati, who came to the FISU Games straight from the European Championships but saw his chances of battling for a medal in the 500 m in Torino disappear when he crashed in round two.

The 21-year-old student from Budapest University of Technology and Economics took on skating because of his sister Petra, five years his senior, who was already practicing short track. His grandparents brought him to the ice rink, and he started skating when he was around five.

Just this past weekend, the Jaszapati siblings competed at the European Championships in Dresden, Germany. Peter participated for the second time in his career and finished eighth in 1000, a year after placing fifth. Meanwhile his sister became the European champion for the first time in her career, in the 500.

After that event, Peter rushed straight to Torino, where he will have the chance on Thursday, 23 January, to improve his result in the 1000. On the opening day of FISU Games short track on Tuesday, he reached the semifinals in the 1500, and on Day 2 also raced in the mixed relay final with his Hungarian teammates.

While having a successful older sister in the same sport helps, Petra and Peter Jaszpati don’t compare their achievements. “It’s two different situations. Because she is older it’s of course helpful for me, that she’s doing this sport. She gave me a path to go on, looking at her past also helps to see if the sport is good or not for me,” explained Peter.

“I’m just happy that she is successful, and we don’t like to compare,” he said, adding that they don’t talk a lot about skating at home. “We talk about it at the ice rink, and we are there for each other if anyone has a hard time at a competition. Otherwise, we don’t talk about skating.”

Korean stars secure third wins in two days

In the women’s 500 A final, Kim Gilli, a 20-year-old student from Korea University – Sejong Campus, was the fastest in 44.717 seconds, finishing ahead of Weiying Hao from China (44.825) and Korean teammate Seo Whimin (44.925).

On the men’s side, Kim Taesung, a 23-year-old from Dankook University-cheonan campus, crossed the finish line first in a time of 40.865. Shogo Miyata from Japan was second (41.120) and another Korean, Lee Donghyun (41.208), took bronze.

The outcome in the mixed team relay final was the same, with powerhouse Korea (2:44.42) once again taking the crown with more than half a second margin ahead of China and Kazakhstan.

Gilli and Taesung were part of the winning team, meaning they’ve already captured three gold medals apiece in Torino. Both were already victorious on Tuesday in the 1500 m races. Donghyun also won his third medal at the Games, all of them of different colours. The fourth member of the relay team, Kim Geonhee, claimed her first gold, and her second medal overall..

After winning all six medals up for grabs on opening day, Korea tallied another five on Day 2, bringing its total to 11, while winning every event. The Koreans are on track to repeating their success from Lake Placid 2023, where they captured 16 out of a possible 27 FISU medals.

Short track speed skating in Torino concludes on Thursday, the day of the Games closing ceremony, with four more final events, including the men’s and women’s 1000, the women’s 3000 relay and men’s 5000 relay.

The take place from 13-23 January. Watch all the competitions live on . Click on the link to find the full schedule.

Written by Nejc Molan, FISU Young Reporter, Slovenia

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.

We warmly thank FISU Official Partner Qiaodan Ltd. which provides remarkable uniforms to FISU Family and International Technical Officials since 2015. Qiaodan is a valuable partner for FISU as it continued to provide its support during the postponement of events due to the global pandemic, and recently extended the relationship with FISU up to and including 2025.