[1][2][3] At the age of 6, Shim started short track speed skating in her hometown Gangneung as a hobby with her older brother's influence.

[4] Her talent was obvious from her time since elementary school and led Shim's parents to fully support her short track career.

She also won a bronze medal in the 3000m mixed-country/gender relay as a member of the mixed team made up of skaters representing different nations.

[6] Shim continued her success at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Melbourne, where she finished first overall after winning gold in 500m, 1000m, and 1500m Superfinal.

Her wins on home soil began to garner considerable media attention and put her into the national spotlight.

She defeated South Korean Park Seung-hi, silver medalist and Canadian Valérie Maltais who finished third in points.

With three laps to go in the final race, South Korea trailed China by a substantial margin and seemed headed toward an inevitable second place.

She zipped past Li Jianrou on the outer side of the track in the final lap, a daring move that stunned the Chinese in a nail-biting finish.

[21] She defeated South Korean Park Seung-hi, silver medalist and Canadian Valérie Maltais who finished third in points.

She won the gold medal in the 3,000-meter relay with Choi Min Jeong, Lee Eun Byul and Oh Do Hee.

[37] In her complaint filed in December 2018, Shim accused Cho of multiple sexual assaults, including rapes, that first happened when she was a high school student.

She further accused Cho that the sexual abuse continued until about two months before the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that took in place in February 2018.

[40] South Korea's sports chief apologized after the accusations and called the "systematic flaw" to prevent such misconduct.

[41] In 2021, Shim was embroiled in race-fixing allegations after Shin's leaked text message with her coach implied that she tripped her teammate Choi Min-jeong on purpose.

She filed an appeal to overturn the suspension in order to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics to no avail as the South Korean court dismissed her request mid-January.