ISU

Republic of Korea made a mark in the Men’s Team Pursuit quarterfinals on Sunday night. Seung-Hoon Lee, Jaewon Chun and Min Seok Kim finished their eight laps versus Italy in 3:39.29 to advance to the finals with the fastest time. The Netherlands came second in 3:40.03. Norway (3:40.09) and New-Zealand (3:41.18) grabbed the remaining semifinal tickets. 

Nao Kodaira nailed it. After a winning streak of 15 races in the ISU World Cup over two seasons the Japanese rocket exploded for gold and an Olympic record in 36.94. Home favorite and title defender Sang-Hwa Lee (KOR) had to settle for silver in 37.33 and Karolina Erbanova (CZE) ran away with the bronze in 37.34.

The Ice Dance competition shapes up as a duel between the experienced 2010 Olympic Champions and 2014 Olympic silver medalists Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) and young two-time World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/ Guillaume Cizeron (FRA).

The sport of Figure Skating is constantly evolving and every two years the ISU Members vote on rule changes during the ISU Congress. Spectators and viewers at home will notice a couple of changes since the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

It will be Korea versus Japan, Sang-Hwa Lee versus Nao Kodaira, in the ladies’ 500m on Sunday. Lee is the two-fold Olympic champion defending her title on home soil, but Kodaira has reigned the shortest speed skating distance with an iron fist over the past two seasons, winning in each of her last 15 World Cup appearances.

Saturday’s Short Track Speed Skating program in the Gangneung Ice Arena promised to be another exciting day of racing and it delivered with the Ladies 1500m Final and Men’s 1000m Final.

Samuel Girard took gold in the Men’s 1000m after an eventful evening at the Gangneung Ice Arena on Saturday. The Canadian planned to stay out of trouble in the final, and managed to stay clear of a big crash. 

Japan’s ‘Samurai’ Yuzuru Hanyu was unstoppable on his way to his second consecutive Olympic gold medal at Gangneung Ice Arena on Saturday. World silver medalist Shoma Uno made it one-two for Japan by overtaking  Spain’s two-time World Champion Javier Fernandez, who settled for the bronze. Hanyu triumphed what was a festival of quadruple jumps.

Saturday’s Short Track Speed Skating program Gangneung Ice Arena makes up for more exciting competition in the ladies’ 1500m and the men’s 1000m. The Ladies will start with the heats and skate all the way to the final, while the men already finished their heats on Tuesday. They will skate the quarter, semi and finals on Saturday.

Hong Zhang (CHN) handed China the first speed skating gold, when she won the ladies’ 1000m in Sochi four years ago. This time around, she’s not high up the list of favorites. Her preparations for PyeongChang 2018 have been plagued by a long struggle to overcome the pain she feels in her knees.

Esmee Visser (NED) came, saw and conquered in the ladies’ 5000m at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 on Friday. The 22-year-old held two-fold Olympic champion Martina Sáblíková (CZE) off a third consecutive title in a track record time of 6:50.23. The 30-year-old Czech took silver and Natalia Voronina (OAR) grabbed bronze.

Reigning Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan left no doubt in the Men’s Short Program on Friday at Gangneung Ice Arena that he is back and determined to defend his title. Spain’s two-time World Champion Javier Fernandez and World silver medalist Shoma Uno of Japan are not far behind in second and third place, heading into the Free Skating on Saturday.

Martina Sáblíková (CZE) is going for a third consecutive Olympic 5000m title at the Gangneung Olympic Oval on Friday February 16. The Czech endurance specialist could become the second lady to win this event three times in a row after Claudia Pechstein (GER), who took gold in 1994-2002.

Ted-Jan Bloemen grabbed the first non-Dutch speed skating gold in a new Olympic 10000m record of 12:39.77 at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games. The Canadian world record holder caused a big upset in the Dutch camp, when he kept Sven Kramer (NED) off the only title he missed, and still misses, in his trophy cabinet.

The Men’s event at the Olympic Winter Games looks wide open and the battle between the “quad kings” should be fierce. All top contenders have multiple quadruple jumps planned and they will need them to get on to the podium in PyeongChang.