Federal Way native J.R. Celski won his first individual World Cup medal in short track speedskating last weekend in Dresden, Germany. The event was the final World Cup meet of the season.

Celski, 18, took home the gold medal in the 1,500-meter A Final in a time of 2:14.532. He finished just in front of Italy’s Yuri Confortola and Canada’s Remi Beaulieu-Tinker.

Ceslki, who is currently living and training in Salt Lake City, took the lead with six laps to go and held on for the gold medal. Celski will be competing in the World Championships in Vienna and the World Team Championships in the Netherlands next month. He will then return to Salt Lake City to prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympic Trials, which will be held in Marquette, Mich. in September.