The world's best short track speed skaters, representing 33 countries were in attendance for this 3-day event. Single Distance medals and the Overall Championship title were up for grabs. The Overall champion is determined by the skater who earns the most total points after skating the four distances: 1500m, 500m, 1000m and 3000m Super Final. A skater only earns points when the finals for each distance are reached. The points 34, 21, 13, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 are awarded in descending order commencing with first place.

Li skated consistently throughout the weekend, finishing with 60 points, thanks to two podium places, one of which got her a gold medal that made her the 1500m Ladies World Champion. Valerie Maltais from Canada earned a total of 47 points, while Arianna Fontana from Italy earned 44 points. On the men's side, Kwak dominated the World Championship quest, finishing on the podium in each of the four individual events for a total of 102 points. Getting to the top spot on the podium twice also made him the 1000m and 3000m Superfinal World Champion. His teammate Jinkyu Noh finished second overall with 76 points, while Canadian skater Olivier Jean finished third, with 52 points.

1500m

The weekend kicked off with the 1500 meters distance. In the ladies competition, Jianrou Li from China took the distance Gold medal and earned 34 points towards the Overall title. Li's teammate Qiuhong Liu in close second while Marie-Eve Drolet from Canada finished third earning the distance's Bronze medal. On the men's side, it was an all Korean affair on the podium, with Jinkyu Noh taking the Gold, silver went to Yoon-Gy Kwak, while Da Woon Sin took the bronze.

500m

Saturday's program included the 500 meters events for the ladies and men. To the cheers of the local fans Kexin Fan from China grabbed the gold medal. Arianna Fontana from Italy was rewarded with the silver, while Lana Gehring from the United States was third and presented with the bronze medal for the distance. In the Overall classification Li and Fan both had a total of 34 points leaving the suspense until the last day of competition.

On the men's side, it was a gold and silver finish for Canadian skaters Olivier Jean taking the win ahead Charles Hamelin. Kwak from Korea was third. This win allowed Jean to take the lead in the overall classification with a total of 39 points.

1000m

The final day was decisive with 2 distances left and the Overall title still undertermined. Ha-Ri Cho from Korea took the gold in the Ladies Final, finishing ahead of Jianrou Li. The bronze medal was won by Canadian skater Valerie Maltais. Li's second place finish gave her a 19 point lead over Cho and Fan in the Overall classification. In the Men's 1000 meters event, Yoon-Gy Kwak finished over a half lap ahead of his opponents and easily took the gold. Kwak's teammate Jinkyu Noh took the silver whilst Charles Hamelin was crowned bronze medalist in the distance. The win gave Kwak a 13 point lead over Noh and 26 points over Hamelin entering the last distance of the weekend.

3000m Super Finals

The 3000 meters Super Finals were the last individual event of the weekend, with only the top eight point-scoring skaters racing. In both the women's and men's competition, this event would determine the World Champion. In the Ladies 3000 meters Super Final, Valerie Maltais won the event ahead Italian skater Fontana with Marie-Eve Drolet following in third place. Li finished fifth in the race, which gave her enough points to clinch the Overall Championships title. The performance from Maltais and Fontana in this event gave them enough points to finish second and third respectively in the overall ranking.

On the men's side, Kwak clinched the overall title by winning the event, narrowly beating his teammate Noh in the race. Noh's place was enough for him to secure the second place overall. Although Da Woon Sin finished third in the distance, Olivier Jean's fourth place in the race gave him enough points to move onto the third step of the podium for the overall ranking.

Relay

These World Championships concluded with the Relay Finals. The Ladies 3000 meters relay was won by China, which was not a surprise given the season's domination of the team in this event. The win earned China the title of Ladies World Short Track Speed Skating Relay Champions 2012. The team from the United States earned silver while the Korean team got bronze. In the Men 5000 meters relay final, Canada once again earned the title of World Short Track Speed Skating Relay Champion 2012. The Netherlands had a solid race, narrowly finishing ahead of Korea who finished third.

Results