The first competition in the 2006-2007 ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating series concluded in Changchun, China on Sunday night. Korea collected seven out of ten gold medals with China gaining two and Canada one.
The three-day event began with Friday’s preliminaries and Saturday finals saw Olympic triple gold medalists Ahn Hyun-Soo and Jin Sun-Yu of Korea dominate in men’s and women’s 1,500-meter races respectively. World record holder Ahn led a Korean one-two finish with 2:20.432, while Lee Ho-Suk, Turin Games silver medalist, came in second. The bronze medal went to Chinese Li Ye. Jin led the women’s 1,500m pack in 2:20.995 as the Koreans wrapped up the medals in women’s 1,500m. Jung Eun-Ju and Byun Chun-Sa sat in second and third respectively.
China showed their strength in women’s short distance as Turin Olympic champion Wang Meng nailed down the women’s 500m title in 44.584. Her teammates Fu Tianyu finished second and Zhu Mile was third to complete a Chinese medal sweep. Canada’s Francois Tremblay beat Kim Byeong-Jun of Korea for the only gold medal outside the Asians on Saturday, winning the men’s 500m in 42.139. His compatriot Oliver Jean was second ahead of Kim Byeong-Jun of Korea.
On Sunday, Ahn continued the winning momentum to top men’s 1,000m race, clocking 1:34.685 to beat Tremblay in a close second. Tremblay’s fellow Canadian Mathieu Giroux held the third place. Men’s 1,500m proved another Korea-Canada duel with Kim Hyun-Kon clocked the best time of 2:15.155 for the title. His compatriot Song Kyun-Taek was second ahead of Charles Hamelin.
In women’s competition, Wang spoiled Koreans hope to wrap up all the six titles of the day as she pocketed the women’s 1,000m victory in 1:32.956. She overtook Olympic champion and world record holder Jin in the last lap for the title. The bronze went to Byun Chun-Sa of Korea. Chinese Liu Xiaoying beat Kim Min-jung of Korea by half a skate in 1,500m final but was disqualified for dangerous sprint. The gold medal was thus credited to Kim in 2:26.672, followed by China’s Fu Tianyu. Katerina Novotna of Czech Republic was third.
In women’s 3,000m relay, Korea cruised to 4:18.990 for the title while China overcame a hard fall in the last 10th lap to finish second ahead of Canada. Korean men’s team defeated the Canadians again in the 5,000m relay, clocking 6:50.466 to add a seventh title. China was left a far third.
The next ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating event will take place on October 27-29 in Jeonju City, Korea.
