The second stop of the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series 2015/16 resumed today in Toronto (CAN) with the Ladies and Men’s 500 m and 1500 m events.
One-two finish for Canada in the Men 500 m
Samuel Girard (CAN) and Alexander Fathoullin (CAN) provided Canada with a gold and silver medal in the first 500 m event of the weekend. Girard won the race in dominant fashion by leading the race from start to finish. Fathoullin second place finish provided him with his first ever World Cup medal. Sebastien Lepape (FRA) finished in third place, to his claim his first ever individual World Cup medal as well.
On the Ladies’ side, Elise Christie (GBR) took the lead with two laps to go to then claim the win in the first 500 m event of the weekend. Lara van Ruijven (NED) earned the second place while Kexin Fan (CHN) finished third. Unfortunately, Natalia Maliszewska (POL), who was in contention for her second career World Cup medal, had to settle with fourth place when she fell with two laps to go.
Korea wins the Ladies and Men 1500 m
Minjeong Choi of Korea won the Ladies’ 1500 m while her teammate Suk Hee Shim claimed second place. Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) gave the home crowd another reason to cheer today with a third place finish – this is the first World Cup event to be held in Toronto. Suk Hee Shim leads the World Cup classification in the 1500 m.
On the Men’s side, Korea claimed the top spot with a win by Yoon-Gy Kwak. Kwak took his second win in the event in as many weekends, and now leads the World Cup classification for the distance. Defending World and European Champion, Sjinkie Knegt (NED) earned second place today, while Francois Hamelin (CAN) gave Canada its fourth medal of the day with a third place finish.
Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 1000 m and the second 500 m events. The teams advancing in Ladies 3000m Relay final are Canada, Russia, Korea and China; in the Men’s 5000m Relay, Korea, China, Canada and Hungary will be competing in the final.