Dordretcht / Netherlands

After spending yesterday racing through qualifying rounds in all individual distances, Europe’s best short track speed skaters took the ice today in Dordretch for the Ladies and Men 1500 m and 500 m finals. Elise Christie (GBR) and Sjinkie Knegt (NED) concluded the day leading their respective European Championship classification.  

Elise Christie (GBR) wins both the Ladies 1500 m and 500 m events

Elise Christie of Great Britain was in dominant form today, winning both the Ladies 1500 m and 500 m events. In the Ladies 1500 m event, Christie had to contend with six other skaters to claim the win. Throughout the race, she had exchanged the lead with Sofia Prosvirnova of Russia and Arianna Fontana of Italy, who is a former European champion. Prosvirnova finished the race in second place, while Veronique Pierron of France finished third. Fontana fell on the last lap, to finish seventh. The others to claim points in this race were Lara Van Ruijven (NED), Charlotte Gilmartin (GBR) and Lucia Peretti (ITA) who finished fourth through sixth respectively.

Later in the day, Elise Christie earned her second win of the day by leading the Ladies 500 m final from start to finish. Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS) finished in second place, while Patrycja Maliszewska finished third, both earning valuable points towards the championship classification. Agne Sereikaite of Lithuania was fourth.

Sjinkie Knegt claims the Men’s 1500 m

The Men’s 1500 m final also saw seven skaters at the start line, with Victor An (RUS), a specialist in the distance, ready to tackle the defense of his European championship title. Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands was the ultimate winner, surely motivated by racing in front of his home crowd. Knegt led most of the race and managed to hold off Semen Elistratov of Russia, who finished in second place. Daan Breeuwsma (NED) gave the local crowd another reason to cheer, when he narrowly edged out Victor An for third place. Positions five through seven went to: Victor Knoch (HUN), Thibaut Fauconnet (FRA) and Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN), who received a penalty in the race.

Double Russian podium in the Men’s 1500 m

The Men’s 500 m saw two skaters from Russia and two from the Netherlands at the start line. Victor An (RUS) led the race from start to finish to claim his first win of these championships. Sjinkie Knegt (NED) was very close behind, and finished in second place. Semen Elistratov (RUS) earned his second podium in as many events with a third place finish. Freek Van Der Wart (NED) was fourth, earning important classification points.

Elise Christie (GBR) ended the day with 68 points, followed by Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS) with 42 points and Veronique Pierron (FRA) who has 15 points. On the Men’s side, the top three in the classification at the end of today are: Sjinkie Knegt (55 points), Victor An (42 points), and Semen Elistratov (34 points). Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 1000 m, 3000 m Super Final and the Relay finals. Both the Ladies and Men’s Relay finals will have the same four countries competing for the championship title, and they are: Hungary, Italy, Netherlands and Russia.