Born S. Korean, now Chinese, short tracker to return to Olympics

Lin Xiaojun, a Korean-born Chinese short track speed skater whose Korean name is Lim Hyo-jun, is back in the spotlight after appearing in China’s promotional video for the upcoming Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The video, produced by China’s state broadcaster CCTV, featured clips of Lin as well as other Chinese national team athletes, including star snowboarder Su Yiming.

“With dreams and pride in their hearts, they will go beyond their limits on the world stage and write their own chapter of glory,” the video said.

Although Lin has not made any public statement, reports say he has qualified for the individual short track races at next February's Winter Olympics, which would mark his return to the Olympics after eight years.

China reportedly secured quota places in all nine short track events and the national team will send 10 athletes — five men and five women — to the Olympics.

Lin was one of Korea’s leading short track stars, winning gold in the men’s 1,500 meters at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

But his career hit a major setback after he was indicted on charges of molesting a younger male teammate by pulling down his pants as a prank at the Jincheon National Training Center in 2019.

Although he was found not guilty, he was unable to return to the national team, as the Korea Skating Union barred him from participating in official competitions and training for a year.

With his career stalled, he became a naturalized Chinese citizen in 2020 and took the name Lin Xiaojun. However, he was unable to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics under an International Olympic Committee rule that athletes must wait three years after representing their former country.

The 25th Winter Olympics, jointly hosted by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy from Feb. 6 to 22, 2026, will bring together more than 3,500 athletes from 93 countries to compete in 116 events across 16 Olympic sports.