Elise Christie (GBR) and Se Yeong Park (KOR) at the top of the podium in the first 1000 m
European champion Elise Christie (GBR) earned her third individual World Cup gold medal of the season with a win in the first Ladies 1000 m event this weekend. Christie took the lead with two laps to go, finishing ahead of Minjeong Choi (KOR). The second place finish allows Choi to extend her lead in the World Cup classification for the distance. Jamie Macdonald (CAN) finished in third place, earning her first-career individual World Cup medal. Yang Yang (CHN) finished in fourth place, while Rianne de Vries (NED) finished fifth.
On the Men’s side, Se Yeong Park (KOR) finished in first place, earning his third individual World Cup medal of the season. Park took the lead from Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN) with one lap to go and held on for the win. Liu crossed the finish line in second place while Joon Chun Kim (KOR) finished in third place. Patrick Duffy (CAN) and Vladimir Grigorev (RUS) finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. Semen Elistratov (RUS) maintains his lead in the World Cup classification for the distance.
Historic win for Vladislav Bykanov (ISR) in the Men’s 1500 m
Vladislav Bykanov (ISR) won the Men’s 1500 m event in dominating fashion, to earn the first individual World Cup gold medal for Israel. Bykanov finished a half a lap ahead of the 7-skater pack following him, which included three Canadian, two Korean and two Chinese skaters. Yoon-Gy Kwak (KOR) and his teammate Jung-Su Lee finished in second and third place respectively. Charle Cournoyer (CAN) and Alexander Fathoullin (CAN) crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth place. Kwak’s podium finish allows him to take the lead in the World Cup classification.
In the Ladies 1500 m event, Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) won yet another race, which means that she has earned an individual medal at each of the six World Cup stops this season. St-Gelais took the lead with two laps to go, and finished ahead of Yihan Guo (CHN). Suzanne Schulting (NED) gave the local fans something to cheer about, with a third place finish. Moemi Kikuchi (JPN) and Qi Yin (CHN) finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. World Cup winner for the distance Minjeong Choi (KOR) did not compete in this distance today, having clinched the title last weekend.
Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 500 m and the second 1000 m events. The teams advancing in Ladies 3000 m Relay final are Korea, Italy, China, France and Russia; in the Men’s 5000 m Relay, Canada, Netherlands, Korea and Russia will be competing in the final.