Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) and Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN) lead their respective championship classification at the end of the second day of racing at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2015. The skaters competed in the 1500 m and 500 m events today, as well as in the Relay semi finals.
Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) and Han Tianyu (CHN) earn gold in their 1500 m events
In the Ladies 1500 m event, Marianne St-Gelais had to contend with six other skaters, including the defending World Champion Minjeong Choi (KOR). Choi is this season’s winner of the 1500 m World Cup classification. St-Gelais took the lead with two lap to go and never looked back to claim the win. Minjeong Choi had a good start to her quest to defend her world championship title with a silver medal in the event. Elise Christie (GBR) finished in third place. The others to claim points in this race were: Yihan Guo (CHN), Yui Sakai (JPN), Michaela Sejpalova (CZE), and Fan Kexin (CHN) who finished fourth through seven respectively.
Tianyu Han (CHN) won the gold medal in the Men’s 1500 m final. Han took the lead with three laps to go crossing the finish line ahead of Shaoang Liu (HUN). Se Yeong Park (KOR) provided the local fans with something to cheer about with a bronze medal finish. Positions four through six were: Samuel Girard (CAN), Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN) and Jack Whelbourne (GBR). Charles Hamelin (CAN) received a penalty in the event, missing out on valuable championship points.
Kexin Fan (CHN) and Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN) earn gold in their 500 m events
Kexin Fan defended her 500 m individual title with a dominant gold medal performance today. She led the race from start to finish, and earned valuable championship points. Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) crossed the line in second place, earning her second podium finish of the day with a silver medal in the 500 m. Chunyu Qu (CHN) finished in third place. Minjeong Choi (KOR) finished in fourth place.
The Men’s 500 m final saw two Hungarian skaters on the podium for the first time in history the the World Championships: Shaolin Sandor Liu crossed the line in first place to earn a gold medal while his teammate Shaoang Liu finished in third place, for a bronze medal. Defending 500 m champion Dajing Wu (CHN) finished in second place. Yi Ra Seo (KOR) finished fourth.
After two days of racing, the top-3 ladies in the overall championship classification are: Marianne St-Gelais (55 points), Kexin Fan (36 points) and Minjeong Choi (29 points). In the men’s classification, the top-3 skaters are: Shaolin Sandor Liu (39 points) and two skaters tied with 34 points: Shaoang Liu and Tianyu Han.
The ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2016 concludes tomorrow with the ladies and men 1000 m, 3,000m Super Final and Relay finals. The Ladies Relay final will have five teams at the start line: Korea was advanced as a result of a penalty incurred by Russia. The teams joining Korea in the Ladies Relay final are: Korea, China, Russia and Canada. The Men’s Relay final will these teams: Korea, Canada, Hungary and China.