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#ShortTrackSkating

Corinne Stoddard (USA) skates during the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN) @GettyImages

Corinne Stoddard is a woman on a mission. The 21-year-old from Seattle (USA) is one of the best inline skaters around – she was 10km Junior World Champion in 2020 – but began to focus on Short Track from 2018 because she wanted to become an Olympian, a feat she achieved at Beijing 2022.

Now she’s aiming to get to the very top of the sport. “Transitioning to ice was not easy,” Stoddard said. “Short Track was hard for a couple of years. I needed to get my technique down and fix some bad habits on the ice.

“But like inline, Short Track is very aggressive and anything can happen. I enjoy the adrenaline rush but I think I’m quite calm, and that helps me. A lot of skaters get nervous, so one of my good qualities is that I can control it and pull off a good performance under pressure.”

She showed as much at Beijing 2022, where she finished seventh in the 1000m, her best individual finish at senior level. “That performance was quite unexpected for me,” she said. “I’d done a few top 10s in the World Cups beforehand but the Olympics is a whole different ballpark.

Corinne Stoddard (USA) skates during the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN) @GettyImages

“I skated really well, especially because I’d broken my nose in the 500m heats. I’d gone into the pads and hit my face. I knew something was wrong. But I skated the Mixed Relay with the broken nose and then came back in the 1000m. I suppose it’s the best bone to break if you’re trying to skate."

“Finishing seventh felt really good, the highlight of Short Track for me so far. I realized I actually am improving and in the next few years, maybe I can be medalling.”

Stoddard is inspired by the progress of her teammate, Kristen Santos-Griswold, who last season transformed herself from contender into a podium regular.

Kristen Santos (USA) and Corinne Stoddard (USA) discuss during the US Short Track Speed Skating Olympic Trial in Utah (USA) @GettyImages

“I look up to Kristen a lot,” Stoddard said. “I train with her every day and try to do what she’s doing, to skate as well as her. She’s a good person to look up to, one of my best friends. She works really hard, training like no other girl I’ve seen. She skates with our boys most of the time – I don’t think she feels pain.

“We have a great team atmosphere. I know if she can do it, maybe I can do it one day. And we have an amazing coach [the Canadian Stephen Gough]. I think I can get to that level but I need to step it up.”

Stoddard believes 2022/23 could be an interesting season. “I missed some summer training because I wanted to have a vacation, and I think a lot of skaters will have done the same,” she said. “So we could see some unusual results in Montreal, and at the start of the year. But I’d like to be top 10 in a distance, and overall, over the season, and be making A finals.”

Stoddard is not fazed by the field of legends she will have to beat to win medals – Suzanne Schulting (NED), Choi Min Jeong (KOR), Kim Boutin (CAN) and the rest.

Minjeong Choi (KOR), Kristen Santos (USA) and Corinne Stoddard (USA) competes during the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022 @GettyImages

“I feel like I have nothing to lose because I haven’t been a top skater yet, so I just go out there thinking we are all human, we are all capable of anything,” she said. “I try not to put myself lower than them.

“It is great to be racing them, too. Since I was young I watched Choi at the Olympics. Her technique is amazing. She wastes no energy, she is a beautiful skater. Now I’m racing her I think, ‘I’ve made it to this level, how much further can I go?’”

Her thoughts on the new Crystal Globe Trophies, meanwhile, are simple. “I want one.”