After four second-place finishes and one third, Andrea Giovannini (ITA) finally managed to take home the Mass Start World Cup Trophy. The 30-year-old Italian finished fifth in the final race in Quebec City on Saturday, collecting enough points to pass absent leader Bart Swings (BEL) in the ranking. Seventeen-year-old Shomu Sasaki (JPN) won the race to take his first World Cup gold, while Jordan Stolz (USA) struck again in the 1500m and the 500m, edging out home favorite Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) by .08 seconds in the shortest distance. Ning Zhongyan (CHN) won the 1500m ranking, grabbing his second trophy of the weekend.
Shomu Sasaki won Mass Start gold on Saturday, while Andrea Giovannini (in blue) secured the World Cup Trophy by finishing fifth © ISU
Two races in one for Giovannini
“A dream come true.”
That’s what Giovannini said after he managed to win his first World Cup Trophy. It didn’t come easy, however.
In a nervous race, the Italian had a lot of support from teammate Daniele Di Stefano (ITA), who countered attacks by Peter Michael (NZL) and Timothy Loubineaud (FRA). In the penultimate lap, Four Continents champion Chung Jae Won (KOR) set up a powerful attack with Sasaki.
The Japanese teenager hung on and managed to beat Chung to the line, with Livio Wenger (SUI) taking bronze.
For Giovannini, it was one of two races on the day.
“I got two races today, the actual race, and the race for the World Cup ranking. The most important thing was to take the Cup and I made it, so I’m incredibly happy because I have ended up second and third in the classification so many times before, but I never won. This is a dream come true.
“Last week, I had a really bad tactical race. I waited too much. So this weekend, I wanted to do something more. In the final sprint, I again didn’t find the right positioning, but I managed to get the Cup.”
Sasaki was happy to take home his first World Cup gold. His race was less complicated.
“Chung was very strong at the Four Continents, so I tried to focus on him. I wanted to stay up in the front group, but everybody was trying that, so I decided to save some energy and attack at the end.”
Just 17, Shomu Sasaki earned his first World Cup podium with Mass Start gold on Saturday in Quebec, Canada © ISU
Wenger was very happy to end up on the podium for the third time this season.
“A podium is always good. For a country like Switzerland, that's not normal, it’s huge for us”
Livio Wenger (left) was just .09 seconds shy of gold in the Mass Start on Saturday in Quebec, Canada © ISU
Tactically, Wenger had a difficult race.
“When the race doesn't include guys like Jorrit Bergsma (NED) or Bart Swings, it's way harder to read it. You could really feel the top guys were looking a lot on the overall today. At the end there was a bit of a weird moment, because I didn't really think Sasaki could hold on so well. So I kind of didn't want to close the gap immediately and use him, and then I was disturbed by Chung in the messy last corner, but I'm glad to be on the podium.”
Record for Stolz, trophy for Ning
In the 1500m, it was Stolz time again. As he had in Friday’s 1000m, the 19-year-old American took on Ning in the penultimate pairing and came out on top. With a time of 1:44.01, he took .65 seconds off the 2022 track record set by Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (CAN). Ning finished .78 behind in second place to maintain a four-point lead over Stolz in the ranking. Canada’s Connor Howe (CAN) was third in 1:45.73.
Jordan Stolz (right) beat pairmate Ning Zhongyan to win 1500m gold in Quebec City on Saturday, but Ning won the World Cup Trophy © ISU
Comparing his race to the 1000m he skated on Friday, Stolz said:
“I tried to open up a bit faster this time on the first lap, to attack it harder. In the second lap, I put two arms up (the back). Maybe I relaxed a little bit too much, but I don't think it would have been much faster if I had kept attacking because we're at sea level now, so it's going to slow down a bit. Last lap felt good. My endurance overall felt better than yesterday, so I think the 1000m kind of prepared my legs.”
Ning cherished his second World Cup Trophy.
“I’m so happy today, to win the 1000m and the 1500m. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the World Championships. Today, Jordan was faster in the first 300m and in the first lap was also fast. I could follow the second lap, so I had good speed, but the last lap was really tough.”
Howe made his first 1500m podium of the season, recovering from a mediocre 1000m outing on Friday.
“I wasn't feeling great yesterday, that 1000m was kind of average. So I really tried to rest up and then just focus on what I needed to do, technique and pacing and stuff, and I executed that. I turned the effort down a little bit and skated a bit better.”
The Canadian crowd acknowledges Connor Howe's bronze-medal performance in the 1500m in Quebec City on Saturday © ISU
Howe especially enjoyed the loud cheers from the crowd.
“It’s super special. The first World Cup I've done in Quebec. It’s really nice to feel the crowd even though I'm not from Quebec.”
Stolz edges home favorite
Stolz took the 500m title less than an hour after winning the 1500m, wrapping up the shortest distance in 34.51.
“I was feeling not 100 per cent, but I tried to skate the best I could and keep my technique, and I tried to attack that last outer as much as I could, so I felt like I had a good one.”
Jordan Stolz topped pairmate Yudai Yamamoto en route to 500m gold at the ISU World Cup in Quebec City on Saturday © ISU
Dubreuil was second in 34.59, while Yuma Murakami (JPN) took bronze in 34.67.
Dubreuil enjoyed racing on home ice, but admitted Stolz was just a little too fast for him on Saturday.
“He's really good right now, and I'm close enough that I feel I have a chance every time. (The margin was) .09 last week and .08 this week, two weeks ago I did beat him. He’s a bit ahead, but I feel like I have a shot tomorrow and I have a shot in two weeks. I’m happy with it and he’s just skating amazing right now.
"The home crowd was pretty amazing, I'd say, exactly what I dreamed of. We’ve got a lot of support. People came up strong and they’re happy to see me skate and I was happy to see them.”
Laurent Dubreuil celebrates his 500m silver medal at the ISU World Cup in Quebec City on Saturday © ISU
By finishing second, Dubreuil narrowed the gap with World Cup leader Wataru Morishige (JPN), who was seventh on Saturday, to 19 points. With the second and final 500m on Sunday, Dubreuil could still claim the World Cup trophy.
“I feel maybe I have a chance, but if he skates good tomorrow it's over for me already. So I just need to have a good race and put pressure on him and, hopefully, it will be enough. But I'm happy with the way I'm skating, that's the most important.”
Murakami was happy with his skating, too, although the shortest distance proved a little too long for him on Saturday.
“Today I focused on both corners and last week the first 300m was good but the last 200m was not good. Today I tried to skate well through both corners. It was better than last week, but the final 100m I was a little too tired.”
Yuma Murakami took 500m bronze on Saturdady at the ISU World Cup in Quebec City, Canada © ISU
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ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Nov 10-12, 2023 Obihiro /JPN
Nov 17-19, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 01-03, 2023 Stavanger /NOR
Dec 08-10, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Jan 26-28, 2024 Salt Lake City /USA
Feb 02-04, 2024 Québec /CAN
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