Salt Lake City / United States

The second round of the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series 2016/17 began today in Salt Lake City (USA) home of another Olympic venue with quick ice, where many speed skating and short track speed skating world records are held. Today did not disappoint as three world records were broken: Ladies 1500m, Men’s 1000 m and the Ladies 3000 m Relay.

Minjeong Choi (KOR) and Samuel Girard (CAN) win the first 1500 m of the weekend

Minjeong Choi won the first Ladies’ 1500 m of the weekend, after taking control of the race with six laps to go. Choi had previously broken the world record in the distance in the semi-finals in a time of 2:14.354. Two Canadians completed the podium with Marianne St-Gelais finishing second, ahead of her teammate Marie-Eve Drolet. Charlotte Gilmartin (GBR) finished fourth while Arianna Fontana (ITA) finished fifth. Jorien ter Mors (NED) was given a penalty in the race. The win allows Choi to lead the World Cup classification for the distance.

On the Men’s side, Samuel Girard of Canada won a second World Cup gold medal in as many weekends, this time in the 1500 m distance. He took the lead with three laps to go, finishing ahead of Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN). John-Henry Kreuger (USA) was cheered on by the home crowd to claim the third and final podium spot. A trio of Korean skaters finished fourth, fifth and sixth: Jung-Su Lee, Kyunghwan Hong and Da Woon Sin. Charles Hamelin (CAN) finished seventh as all of the skaters were less than a second apart. Shaolin Sandor Liu takes the lead in the World Cup classification for the distance as a result of his podium finish.

WCST-USA-Men-1000m-Gettyimages-622930016Korea claims gold double in the 1000m: Jiyoo Kim (Ladies) and Kyoungwon Lim (Men)

Jiyoo Kim (KOR) took the lead with two laps to go to claim the top podium spot in the Ladies 1000 m. Kim took the lead from Suzanne Schulting (NED) who crossed the finish line in second place. The result places Schulting at the top of the World Cup classification for the distance. Zsofia Konya (HUN) finished in third place, earning her first career individual World Cup medal. Yize Zang (CHN) finished in fourth place, following by Katherine Reutter (USA) and Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS).

Kyoungwon Lim (KOR) led most of the men’s 1000 m final to earn the first individual World Cup gold medal of his career. His teammate Daeheon Hwang finished in second place, followed by Thibaut Fauconnet (FRA). Hwang set a new world record time for the distance earlier in the day during the repechage quarter-finals, with a time of 1.20.875. Fourth place finisher was Vladislav Bykanov (ISR) who reached yet another World Cup final. The win puts Lim in the lead in the World Cup classification for the distance. 

Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 500 m and the second 1500 m events. The teams advancing in Ladies 3000 m Relay are: Korea, Netherlands, China and Canada. The Korean team set a new world record in the semi-finals in a time of 4:04.222. Tomorrow’s Men’s 5000 m Relay final will see Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Canada and China competing.