Montreal / Canada

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South Korea’s Choi Min Jeong kept her Olympic momentum going at the 2018 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal (CAN) with victory in the Ladies’ 1500 metres.

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Suk Hee Shim of Korea (L) Min Jeong Choi of Korea (C) and Kim Boutin of Canada (R) hold up their medals after the 1500 meter Finals

Fresh from winning two gold medals in her home country at last month’s PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the 19-year-old beat crowd favorite Kim Boutin (CAN), who eventually finished third, and Suk Hee Shim (KOR) to the top of the podium in the A Final.

“I didn’t expect this,” Choi said. “After the Olympic Games, there wasn’t much time to prepare because I was recovering.”

Choi and Boutin were neck and neck throughout, with the sell-out crowd rooting for the Quebec native. South Korea nearly made it a clean sweep of medals, with Kim A Lang coming in fourth, just a few ticks shy of Boutin.

“I’m very happy to win [with Shim] but I would have liked to have all three of us on the podium,” said Choi.

Russian youngster Sofia Prosvirnova enjoyed her highest finish on the senior Championships circuit to date, coming in fifth. “I’m improving every year,” she said, smiling, on learning of a new career mark. “I feel great about my 1500. To get in the top five, it means a lot to me.”

Tifany Huot Marchand (FRA) rounded out the top group.

Li Jinyu (CHN) had a strong finish in in the B Final, skating past Hungary’s Petra Jaszapati, who led for much of the race, to finish ahead of Yara van Kerkhof (NED) and Martina Valcepina (ITA).

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Min Jeong Choi (KOR)