Canadians St-Gelais and Hamelin strike again with wins in the 500 m
Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) won her second individual event of the weekend in the 500 m distance with yet another dominant race. St-Gelais led the race from start to finish and closed the gap to Kexin Fan (CHN), leader of the World Cup classification for the distance. Elise Christie (GBR) finished in second place, while Lara van Ruijven (NED) finished third. Yara van Kerkhof (NED) was the other skater in the race and finished fourth.
On the Men’s side, Charles Hamelin (CAN) also took his second individual gold medal of the weekend with a win in the 500 m. Hamelin led from start to finish, and crossed the finish line ahead of Semen Elistratov (RUS). Dmitry Migunov (RUS) finished in third place, while Samuel Girard (CAN) finished fourth. The win allows Hamelin to take the lead in the World Cup classification for the distance.
Korea dominates the 1500 m distance with five medals
Korea swept the podium in the Ladies 1500 m event with Minjeong Choi (KOR) at the top of the podium. Choi finished ahead of her teammates Do Hee Noh (second) and Alang Kim (third). The win allows Choi to clinch the overall World Cup title for the distance with one more stop in the series left. Namasthee Harris-Gauthier (CAN) finished in fourth place, while Lucia Peretti (ITA) finished in fifth.
On the Men’s side, a photo-finish review was required to determine the winner of the race. Yi Ra Seo (KOR) was the first of seven skaters to cross the finish line, finishing ahead of Alexander Fathoullin (CAN). Yoon-Gy Kwak (KOR) crossed the finish line in third place. Tommaso Dotti (ITA) finished in fourth while Ruslan Zakharov (RUS) finished in fifth place. World Cup classification leader for the distance, Sjinkie Knegt (NED), finished in sixth place today.
Italy (Ladies) and Russia (Men) are first time Relay winners this season
Italy put an end to Korea’s dominance in the Ladies’ Relay events with a gold medal performance. Korea had won the first four events this season and maintains its lead in the World Cup ranking despite finishing eight overall this weekend. Hungary finished in second place while Japan finished third. This was the first podium finish in the event for both of these teams this season. Russia finished in fourth place.
In the Men’s Relay event, Russia took the top honors, passing Canada on the last lap in today’s final. The second place finish by Canada allows them to move into the lead of the World Cup classification. The Unites States returned to the podium for the first time this season with a third place finish, while Korea finished fourth.
The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series resumes next week in Dordrecht (NED) from February 12-14, 2016.