ISU

It was a day of firsts to start the second ISU Four Continents Championships in Calgary on Wednesday. Yekaterina Aidova (KAZ, pictured) won her first international title in the 500m, while Huang Yu-Ting (TPE) and Victoria Rodriguez (ARG) seized the first international silverware for their countries in the history of speed skating.

Elise Christie, the first British and European woman to become an overall Short Track Speed Skating world champion, has retired.

For some skaters it is a first shot at an international competition, a chance to prepare for their Olympic trials, and for others it is just a great opportunity to win an international prize. Whatever the reason all skaters enjoyed preparing for the races in a relaxed mode on Tuesday. Nine countries are entered  to compete in the Championships.

Most ISU Members decide their teams for the ISU Championships and the Olympic Winter Games based on the results from the National Championships and also international events such as the ISU Grand Prix and Challenger Series. While in some countries the candidates for the Olympic team have been announced already or are obvious, in others Nationals are decisive of who is going to represent their country on the Olympic stage at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in February.

The list of entries / participating Figure Skating Team events has been pubilshed today

One week on from their staggering Team Pursuit World Cup win in Salt Lake City, USA confirmed their status with another gold medal, claiming the World Cup Trophy in the process. The Americans showed the depth of their team, keeping last week’s anchor Joey Mantia (USA) on the bench in Calgary. Earlier on Sunday Viktor Mushtakov (RUS) won the 500m while Ning Zhongyan (CHN) took his career first 1000m World Cup gold.

Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) wrapped up the best World Cup weekend of her career by sprinting to gold in the Women’s Mass Start in Calgary on Sunday while Brittany Bowe (USA) made amends in the 1500m by a 0.01s margin after finishing second by 0.03s in Saturday’s 1000m.

Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais secured the third consecutive World Cup trophy in the Women’s Team Pursuit for Canada on Saturday. Inspired by the home ice of the Calgary Olympic Oval the trio set a Canadian and a track record in 2:52.06, beating Japan and concluding the season undefeated. Nao Kodaira handed Japan a 1000m gold and a 500m silver, while Angelina Golikova (RUS) seized her first World Cup victory of the season in the 500m. 

It was do or die for Bart Hoolwerf (NED) in the Men’s Mass Start at the Calgary Olympic Oval on Saturday. With the second Dutch Olympic slot in the distance at risk, the 23-year-old gloriously took his career first World Cup win, securing the Beijing ticket for his country. Earlier on Saturday, Joey Mantia (USA) overcame his fatigue after Salt Lake City last week to win his second consecutive 1500m gold.

Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) came into the fourth World Cup as leader but he saved the best for the home ice in Calgary. With 33.80 seconds the world champion skated under 34 seconds for the first time in his career, winning the 500m by a 0.09 margin. Nils van der Poel (SWE) extended his unbeaten streak in the long distance World Cup to four but left the race with mixed feelings, finishing in six minutes and 4.29 seconds, 0.97 short of Sven Kramer’s 2007 track record.

Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) won her first World Cup gold in a classical distance after beating home skater Isabelle Weidemann (CAN) in an exciting head-to-head. Martina Sáblíková (CZE) took bronze after a close battle with Ragne Wiklund (NOR). Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Olga Fatkulina (RUS) kicked off the fourth World Cup weekend of the season in Calgary with a personal best and her first individual World Cup gold since November 2019.

Shoma Uno of Japan will be only 24 on December 17, but he has competed in five ISU World Championships as well as in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, where he won the silver medal. He collected silver as well at the ISU World Championships 2017 and 2018 plus in the ISU Grand Prix Final the same years.

Following the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, the ISU was recently informed that several ISU Members will not attend the ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships, scheduled to take place from January 14 – 16, 2022 in Salt Lake City (USA), resulting in a very limited attendance.

The stakes are high when the international Speed Skating elite enters the Calgary Olympic Oval for the fourth leg of the 2021/22 ISU World Cup Speed Skating series. The definite Olympic Qualification Classification for allocation of quota places for the  Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is made up after this weekend.

Following the conclusion of the World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Competitions, designated for qualification of quota places for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, held in Beijing (CHN), Nagoya (JPN), Debrecen (HUN) and Dordrecht (NED), the ISU is happy to announce the allocation of Short Track Speed Skating quota places for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games 2022 in Beijing.