Racing resumed today in Shanghai, China, in the first of four stops of the 2013-2014 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating series. Podium finishes in the 1000 m and Relay events were up for grabs.
Suk Hee Shim is showing she is in great form early in the season. She earned her second win of the weekend, taking first place in the 1000 m. This is an event in which she finished second in last year's overall World Cup classification. Last year's World Cup champion at the distance, Elise Christie (GBR), did not make it past the semi-final round, having received a penalty from the officials. Alang Kim (Korea) finished second this weekend, while Chinese skater Jianrou Li took third, cheered on by the thousands of fans in her home crowd.
In the Men's 1000 m event, Charles Hamelin (Canada) led from start to finish to take the win, despite being under constant pressure from the other three skaters in the final. Dutch skater Niels Kerstholt finished second, barely a blade length ahead of Han-Bin Lee of Korea. In fact, after a photo finish review, it was determined that both Lee and Malone reached the line at exactly the same time, thus both tied for third place. This was Hamelin's second individual win and third podium of the weekend.
With the individual events over, it was time for the relay events to conclude this first weekend of racing. In the Ladies' 3000 m relay final, the defending World Cup distance champions China were hoping to start the season with a win, in front of their home fans. Unfortunately, Korea managed to edge them out, by less than two hundredths of as second. Italy finished in third place.
In the Men's 5000 m relay final, the team from the United States took the win in what was a very close three-way race with Korea and Canada. With six laps to go, the United States took the lead from Korea, the defending World Cup distance champion. This was a great start to the season for the team from the United States who finished seventh overall in the 2012-13 World Cup season. Rounding up the podium was Canada, who led the race early on.
The skaters will now move to Seoul, Korea, for the next stop of the Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating series, from October 3-6.