China dominated the men's finals at the Dordrecht World Cup on Saturday as Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei claimed comfortable victories in the 500m and 1500m to put their rivals on notice ahead of their home Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Canada's Kim Boutin (500m) and Korea's Lee Yubin (1500m) claimed the two gold medals on offer in Saturday's Women's World Cup races in Dordrecht, denying pre-event favorite Suzanne Schulting (NED) another golden blitz on home ice.
ISU World Champions Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia danced to gold in Sochi and right into the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final at Rostelecom Cup on Saturday. Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri earned the silver medal and assured their place in the Final as well. The bronze went to Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada.
Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) skated off with the gold medal at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS) on Saturday, winning Georgia’s first ever ISU Grand Prix title in the process. Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada pulled up from fourth to claim the silver while overnight leader Kazuki Tomono of Japan settled for the bronze.
2020 ISU World Junior Champion Kamila Valieva of Russia set a new record score en route to winning the Women’s Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS) Friday. Teammate Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) came second and Mariah Bell (USA) finished third on the first day of competition.
Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin edged reigning ISU World Champions Anastasia Mishina/ Aleksandr Galliamov and led the Russian Pairs to a sweep in the Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS) on Friday. Iasmina Kadyrova/Ivan Balchenko are currently sitting in third place.
ISU World Champions Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia danced into a confident lead in the Rhythm Dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS). Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri finished second ahead of Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada.
Japan’s Kazuki Tomono grabbed a narrow lead over Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia in the Men’s Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS) Friday. Canadian Roman Sadovsky sits currently in third place.
After a year’s absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISU is happy to organize the Junior World Cup Speed Skating again this season. The three-leg series features two back-to-back weekends in Inzell, Germany (27-28 November and 4-5 December 2021), and the final in Innsbruck, Austria (22-23 January 2022). With a field made up of Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games medal winners, the offspring of past Champions, and new names for the future, the Junior World Cup provides an exciting international platform for the Speed Skating stars of tomorrow.
The last spots for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final are on the line this week at the Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS), the sixth and final event of the ISU Grand Prix series 2021/22. ISU World Champions Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov (RUS) and Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS), along with ISU World silver medalist Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS), headline the event and hope to secure their tickets to Osaka (JPN) for the Final next month.
It's now or never for the world’s top Short Track Speed Skaters as the last ISU World Cup of the season takes place in Dordrecht, Netherlands from November 25-28. The final places at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games will be won and lost.
Viewers will be able to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series either via their national broadcaster / channel or via the Skating ISU YouTube Channel for countries where there is no broadcaster agreement in place.
Ning Zhongyan (CHN) is gearing up well for the Olympic Games on home ice in February. The 22-year-old Chinese middle-distance specialist won his career-second ISU World Cup Speed Skating gold in the Men’s 1500m in Stavanger on Sunday. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) won his second 500m race of the new World Cup season, but Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) held on to the lead in the ranking, finishing second and only 0.03s behind the Japanese World Sprint Champion.
After a bronze medal in Friday’s 1000m and a silver in Saturday’s 500m, Nao Kodaira (JPN) completed the medal set with gold in Sunday’s 500m at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Stavanger, Norway. Coming second after three victories, Erin Jackson (USA) retained the lead in the 500m World Cup classification. Miho Takagi (JPN) strengthened her lead in the 1500m World Cup with a back-to-back win following her success in Poland last week.
After the wild party for Shaolin Sandor Liu’s 26th birthday on Saturday, with the Hungarian favourite winning the 500m, Sunday was a more subdued affair for the home crowd. Shaolin and his brother Shaoang Liu (HUN) suffered a series of crashes and penalties to leave the locals disappointed.