Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) and Thibaut Fauconnet (FRA) win the 1000 m
Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) won her first 1000 m event of the 2016/17 World Cup series, leading much of the race. She finished ahead of Suzanne Schulting (NED) while St-Gelais’ teammate, Valerie Maltais, finished in third place. Deanne Lockett (AUS) finished in fourth place which is her best finish this season. Yuhong Han (CHN) was the other skater in the race and finished in fifth place. Despite not competing in the distance this weekend, Min Jeong Choi (KOR) retains the lead in the World Cup classification for the distance.
On the Men’s side, Thibaut Fauconnet (FRA) took his first win of the 2016/17 World Cup series by crossing the line first in the 1000 m event. A photo-finish review was required to determine that Fauconnet had narrowly beaten Dae Heon Hwang (KOR) at the finish line. J.R. Celski (USA) took advantage of a penalty awarded to Shaoang Liu (HUN) to finish in third place. Despite the penalty, Liu earned enough points to take the lead in the World Cup rankings for the distance, moving ahead of Kyoung Won Lim (KOR).
Double 1500 m (1) gold for Canada: Kim Boutin (Ladies) and Charles Hamelin (Men)
In the Ladies 1500 m (1), Kim Boutin (CAN) took her first career individual World Cup win in the distance today. She took the lead with less than four laps to go, finishing ahead of Rianne de Vries (NED). Charlotte Gilmartin (GBR) finished in third place, ahead of Ekaterina Efremenkova (RUS). Petra Jaszapati (HUN) and Qi Yin (CHN) finished in fifth and sixth place respectively. Suk Hee Shim (KOR) maintains her lead the World Cup classification for the distance.
On the Men’s side, Charles Hamelin (CAN) took Canada’s third win in four individual distances today in the 1500 m (1) final. Kyung Hwan Hong (KOR) finished in second place, ahead of Alexander Shulginov (RUS). Samuel Girard (CAN) crossed the line in fourth place ahead of Sandor Shaolin Liu (HUN). Denis Ayrapetyan (RUS) received a penalty in the race. Jung Su Lee (KOR) is not competing this weekend however maintains his lead of the World Cup classification for the 1500 m distance.
For full results of the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series 2016/17 please refer to http://shorttrack.sportresult.com/ and /en/speed-skating/series/isu-world-cup-speed-skating
Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 500 m and 1500 m (2) events. The teams advancing in Ladies 3000 m Relay are: Netherlands, Canada, Japan and Italy. Korea, who has won all four Ladies 3000 m Relay in the 2016/17 World Cup series, was knocked out in the qualification round yesterday. Tomorrow’s Men’s 5000 m Relay final will see Netherlands, Hungary, Russia and Korea competing.