A superb fortnight of ISU Short Track World Cup racing came to a conclusion at the Maurice-Richard Arena in Montreal on Sunday with new champions emerging and a fierce battle developing for ownership of the coveted ISU Crystal Globe.
Brilliant young Korean Seo Whi Min (KOR) scooped her first ever individual gold medal at this level, winning the 1000m, while Hanne Desmet (BEL) capped a superlative fortnight by adding another 1500m victory to her resume.
Top trio go head-to-head again in 1500m
When Desmet, Kim Gilli (KOR) and Kristen Santos-Griswold (USA) line up for a final these days, all bets are off as to what will happen.
These evenly-matched competitors have already served up some classic Short Track grapples this month and Sunday was no exception. In a final stacked with other talent including Xandra Velzeboer (NED), Courtney Sarault (CAN) and Shim Suk-Hee (KOR), it was Desmet that wrote this chapter.
She shadowed Kim from the back, taking the lead with seven laps to go. Santos-Griswold passed the pair and cranked up the speed, but on the final circuit, Kim overtook the American – and then the Belgian squeezed past both of them.
Kim had to settle for silver, and Santos-Griswold the bronze.
Hanne Desmet (BEL) took the lead on the last lap of the 1500m(2) final to win her second gold in two weeks © ISU
“The three of us have been having a lot of great fights, I think it is really nice,” said Desmet afterwards. “Every time we decide on another different strategy, it seems like it has a different outcome. It makes racing interesting.
“I wasn’t planning to follow Kim from the back, I was planning to race from the front, but I saw too many girls wanting to be there, so I decided to see if I could win from behind.”
Desmet’s development over past seasons has been impressive. She trained with the Netherlands team in recent years, but in 2023 has been coached by her off-ice partner, the American Joey Mantia, who has an Olympic bronze medal in speed skating and several inline skating world records.
“I think it has been really important for me to develop as an athlete,” said Desmet. “My technique was terrible at the beginning and I’ve always had to work really hard to improve that. It’s really fun to me, the improvements you can make and how you make them, how they feel on the ice.
“Joey has got a really good eye for movement. Technically, I’ve never met anyone who looks at these things the way he does. He sees when it is right and wrong. I have no idea when I look at other people, but he recognises where you can and can’t transfer power. He works with me on those aspects.”
The deal works both ways. “We’ve been helping each other out for years,” said Mantia from rinkside. “I’ve always watched her videos, tried to help her out with little things. I was an inline skater which is pack racing, I recognise patterns.
“It’s a good dynamic. She is physiologically very gifted, but in certain situations in racing, she wasn’t comfortable. She didn’t grow up speed skating - and I could recognise that. She is very intelligent and she can feel how changes work, so it is working out well.”
Seo leads Korean charge
In the women’s sport, 19-year-old Kim Gilli has been grabbing most of her country’s headlines lately. But there is another young racer on the team with the potential to fill the void left by the absence of Korean legend Choi Min Jeong (KOR) this season: Seo Whi Min.
Seo, 21, had a stellar junior career, and already has Olympic silver and World Championship gold to her name in the relay. In Montreal, she notched her first ever individual title in a dramatic 1000m.
Michelle Velzeboer (NED) and Danae Blais (CAN) had led the race early, before Seo hit the front with four laps remaining. Velzeboer and Lee So Youn (KOR) then collided: Seo avoided the chaos and couldn’t be caught by Blais, who won silver, and Park Jiyun (KOR), who got bronze.
Seo Whi Min (KOR) held off the challenge of home hope Danae Blais (CAN) to win her first individual gold in the 1000m © ISU
“I’m really happy to win my first gold medal,” said Seo. “A few months my teacher passed away, so this win is for him.
“I was very nervous before the race, but I believe in myself, which helped me get the result. I think belief is my key quality. We have some very good skaters in our team now, like Kim, and so I’m very happy to train with them.”
Seo then proved her point in the 3000m relay, which Korea won ahead of Netherlands and USA.
As the Montreal events came to a close, Kim topped the ISU Crystal Globe point standings with 455 points, ahead of Santos-Griswold (400), Desmet (375) and Xandra Velzeboer (305).
All four will enter the next round of ISU Short Track World Cup racing, from 8-10 December in Beijing, with plenty of confidence.
Fans in the Montreal area can, however, look forward to another weekend of action next weekend: the ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships take place in Laval from 4 to 5 November – with big names from teams like Canada, Republic of Korea, Republic of China, Japan and USA all in action.
For full entry lists and further information about the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series, please visit webpage here.
All Media Accreditations details and deadlines for the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series can be found here.
World Cup Classification - Men
World Cup Classification - Women
World Cup Classification – Mixed Relay
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the Saturday and Sunday afternoon (local time) World Cup sessions via their national broadcaster/channel.
For countries where there are no broadcasters and for the qualification races on Friday and repechage races (Saturday and Sunday morning), the ISU will offer a live stream with English commentary on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to watch webpage here.
Only for the Friday qualification races and repechage races on Saturday and Sunday morning (local time), no geoblocking will apply.
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ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Oct 20 - 22, 2023 Montréal /CAN
Oct 27 - 29, 2023 Montréal /CAN
Dec 08 - 10, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 15 - 17, 2023 Seoul /KOR
Feb 09 - 11, 2024 Dresden /GER
Feb 16 - 18, 2024 Gdansk /POL
Stay connected with the ISU:
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About ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. Launched in 1997/98, the Series usually consists of six events (four during an Olympic season) that take place in North America, Europe and Asia.
The competitions have a single distance character across nine distances (500, 1000 and 1500 meters for Women and Men, Women 3000 meters Team Relay, Men 5000 meters Team Relay and a Mixed Gender Relay over 2000 meters). In 2022, the series introduced an Overall World Classification based on an accumulation of points from all individual distances which ultimately determine a Combined Season Ranking and a Season Champion in the Women and Men categories. These Champions are awarded with the ISU World Cup Short Track Crystal Globe Trophy.
Each competition is held over three days (day 1 is dedicated to all Qualifying Rounds, days 2 and 3 consist of the last Qualifying Rounds followed by the World Cup sessions). For the Mixed Gender Relay Teams (2 Women & 2 Men), the Women 3000 meters Relay races and Men 5000 meters Relay races a maximum of four Skaters shall compete and must belong to the same ISU Member. For further information please visit isu.org.
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