Korea's gold medal hopes for Pyeongchang still on ice

Short Track - Asian Winter Games - Women's 1000 m - Makomanai, Sapporo, Japan 22/02/17 - South Korea's Shim Suk-hee (L) and South Korea's Choi Min-jeong (R) in action during final. Picture taken on February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea invested heavily across the winter sports spectrum to boost its medal chances at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics but if the ongoing Winter Asiad is anything to go by, the cut-throat world of short track remains its best hope for gold next year.

Since short track speed skating debuted as a medal sport at the 1992 Winter Olympics, Korean athletes have won 21 of the 48 golds up for grabs, their bravery, blazing acceleration and ice-cool composure giving them a razor-sharp edge over their rivals.