Salt Lake City / United States

The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series 2016/17 resumed today for the second day of finals in Salt Lake City (USA) with the Ladies and Men’s 500 m, second 1500 m and Relay events. Two more world records were broken today.

Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) and Abzal Azhgaliyev (KAZ) claim wins in the 500 m

Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) won today’s Ladies 500 m event, taking advantage of a fall on the last lap by Elise Christie (GBR) who had set a new world record in the distance during the round of quarter-finals. Minjeong Choi (KOR) finished in second place ahead of Kexin Fan (CHN). The win allows St-Gelais to move into the lead of the World Cup classification for the distance.

On the Men’s side, Abzal Azhgaliyev (KAZ) won his first ever individual World Cup gold medal, winning the 500 m final. Azhgaliyev took advantage of Samuel Girard’s fall on the last lap; the Canadian skater had led from the start at that point. Tianyu Han (CHN) took the opportunity to move into second place, while Girard’s teammate, Charles Hamelin finished in third place. The win puts Azhgaliyev at the top of the World Cup rankings for the distance.

WCST-USA-Ladies-1500m-2-Gettyimages-623051828Korean women sweep the podium in the second 1500 m event of the weekend

Korean skaters Suk Hee Shim, Jiyoo Kim and Do Hee Noh finished first, second and third respectively in the second Ladies’ 1500 m of the weekend. Shim took the lead with five laps to go and the win puts her in first place of the World Cup classification for the distance. Hitomi Saito (JPN), Yihan Guo (CHN) and Katherine Reutter (USA) crossed the line in fourth, fifth and sixth place to earn valuable World Cup points.

On the Men’s side, Sjinkie Knegt (NED) won the 1500 m event and set a new world record in doing so. With eight skaters at the start line, the pace was quick from the get-go, and Knegt took the lead with three laps to go. Jung-Su Lee (KOR) crossed the finish line in second place, followed by Semen Elistratov (RUS). A pair of Canadian skaters finished in fourth and fifth place: Charle Cournoyer and Pascal Dion. Kazuki Yoshinaga (JPN), Csaba Bursan (HUN) and Sebastien Lepape (FRA) rounded up the rest of the field. Knegt moves into the lead of the World Cup ranking for the 1500 m as a result of his win.

Korea (Ladies) and China (Men) take gold in the Relay events

The Korean women’s team added a gold medal to their world record set yesterday. Korea crossed the finish line ahead of the Netherlands. China, who finished the race in third place, was handed a penalty, which gave the bronze medal to Canada. Korea maintain its lead in the World Cup classification for the distance after two events.

The Men’s 5000 m Relay was closely contested with all four teams crossing the finish line separated by less than one second. China edged out the Netherlands for the win. Kazakhstan had a strong race to finish in third place ahead of Canada. The Netherlands lead the World Cup rankings for the distance.

The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series resumes next month in Shanghai (CHN) on December 9-11, 2016.