Nagoya / Japan

 

Canada wins three medals in the 500 m

The Hamelin brothers, Charles and Francois, won gold and bronze in the first 500 m event of the weekend. Charles Hamelin won the race in dominant fashion by leading the race from start to finish. The Canadian skaters were split by Yoon-Gy Kwak (KOR) who finished in second place. Dmitry Migunov (RUS) finished fourth as a result of a penalty. Charles Hamelin leads the World Cup classification for the distance.

On the Ladies’ side, Kexin Fan (CHN) dominated the event leading the race from start to finish as well. For Fan, who is a specialist in this distance, this was her first win of the season. Elise Christie (GBR) earned the second place while Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) finished third. Natalia Maliszewska (POL) finished fourth as a result of a penalty. The third place finish allows St-Gelais to maintain the lead in the World cup classification.

Korea sweeps the podium in the Ladies 1500 m

Korea earns three medals in the Ladies’ 1500 m event. Minjeong Choi of Korea won the event, after taking the lead from her teammate Suk Hee Shim, who completed the race in second place. Do Hee Noh completed the podium sweep with a third place finish. Valerie Maltais (CAN) and Anna Seidel (GER) completed the top five, finished in fourth and fifth respectively. Suk Hee Shim maintains her lead in the World Cup classification in the 1500 m.

 On the Men’s side, defending World and European Champion Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands claimed the top podium spot with a win in the 1500 m event. Knegt took the lead from Semen Elistratov (RUS) with three laps to go and never looked back. Jiwon Park (KOR) took the last podium spot with a third place finish. Tianyu Han (CHN) finished fourth while Samuel Girard (CAN) finished fifth. The win puts Knegt in the lead of the World Cup classification for the distance.

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 Korea, Canada, China and Russia; in the Men’s 5000m Relay, China, Canada, Korea and Netherlands will be competing in the final.