Elise Christie (GBR) and Dajing Wu (CHN) win the first 500 m of the weekend
Elise Christie (GBR) and Dajing Wu (CHN) win the first 500 m of the weekendElise Christie (GBR) won the first Ladies 500 m final of the weekend, leading all but the first lap of the race. Minjeong Choi (KOR) finished in second place ahead of Marianne St-Gelais (CAN). Kexin Fan (CHN) finished in fourth place. The win allows Christie to move back into the lead of the World Cup classification for the distance.
On the Men’s side, Dajing Wu (CHN) won the 500 m (1) final in dominant fashion, leading the race from start to finish. Shaoang Liu (HUN) finished in second place, ahead of Victor An (RUS), a six-time World Champion. World Cup classification leader, Abzal Azhgaliyev (KAZ), finished in fourth place and maintains his lead in World Cup rankings for the distance.
Korea claims gold double in the 1500m: Suk Hee Shim (Ladies) and Jung Su Lee (Men)
Suk Hee Shim (KOR) won her third 1500 m final in as many World Cup events. She took the lead with five laps to go and finished ahead of her teammate Ji Yoo Kim. Suzanne Schulting (NED) finished in third place. Charlotte Gilmartin (GBR) finished in fourth place ahead of a pair of Chinese skaters: Yihan Guo and Yize Zang. Arianna Fontana (ITA) finished seventh place. The win allows Shim to extend her lead in the World Cup classification for the distance.
On the Men’s side, Jung Su Lee (KOR) won a very competitive 1500 m final: there was less than seven tenths of a second separating the seven skaters in the race at the finish line. Lee crossed the line ahead of Semen Elistratov (RUS). Sjinkie Knegt (NED) finished in third place and maintains his lead in the World Cup classification for the distance. Da Woon Sin (KOR) finished in fourth place ahead of Thibaut Fauconnet (FRA). Vladislav Bykanov (ISR) and John-Henry Krueger (USA) finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 500 m (2) and 1000 m events. The teams advancing in Ladies 3000 m Relay are: Korea, China, Netherlands and Canada. Tomorrow’s Men’s 5000 m Relay final will see Korea, China, Netherlands and Hungary competing.