Beijing, China

 

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Wu Dajing Jens van't Wout Dae Heon Hwang ISU World Cup Short Track Beijing 2021©ISU 1236091393

Wu Dajing (L) (CHN), Jens van't Wout (NED) and Dae Heon Hwang (KOR) compete at the 2021/2022 ISU World Cup Short Track test event for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China.© International Skating Union (ISU)

Host country China is eying their first possible Short Track gold medal - and maybe first gold of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games - when the Short Track competition starts with the Mixed Relay at the Beijing Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The Mixed Relay celebrates its Olympic debut. In this format, teams consist of two women and two men.

Overview of the top contenders   

China is leading the World Cup ranking in the Mixed Team Relay with 28’000 points, followed by The Netherlands (21’277 points) and Hungary (19’520 points).

Ziwei Ren (CHN) 1500m WC Short Track Dordrecht Day 1 2

Ziwei Ren (CHN) competes during the 2021 ISU World Cup Short Track in Dordrecht, Netherlands. © International Skating Union (ISU)

The Chinese team features stars such as 2018 Olympic 500m Champion Dajing Wu and Ziwei Ren, who collected four individual distance World Cup titles this season.

Suzanne Schulting ISU World Cup Short Track   Dordrecht 2021©ISU

Suzanne Schulting (NED) celebrates in the Women's 3000m Relay final during the 2021 ISU World Cup Short Track in Dordrecht, Netherlands. © International Skating Union (ISU)

The Netherlands can rely on their superstars Suzanne Schulting - the 1000m Olympic Champion from PyeongChang 2018, who is aiming at taking home more hardware from Beijing - and on two-time Olympic medalist Sjinkie Knegt, who is back in shape after overcoming serious injuries. Hungary features the popular Liu brothers - Shaoang and Shaolin Sandor - who won gold with the Men’s 5000m relay four years ago.

Shaoang Liu Shaolin Sandor Liu ISU World Cup Short Track Debrecen 2021©ISU 1354558620

Shaolin Sandor Liu and Shaoang Liu (HUN) celebrate after winning first and secnd place in Men`s 500m final race during the 2021 ISU World Cup Short Track in Debrecen, Hungary. © International Skating Union (ISU)

Short Track powerhouse Korea is eager to start their medal haul in the Mixed Relay and can count on Minjeong Choi, who struck gold in the 1500m and the 3000m relay in PyeongChang 2018.

Minjeong Choi ISU World Cup Short Track   Dordrecht 2021©ISU1355998820 (1)

Minjeong Choi of Korea competing in the Women's 1000m final during the 2021 ISU World Cup Short Track 2021 in Dordrecht, Netherlands.© International Skating Union (ISU)

Canada features the three-time Olympic medalist Kim Boutin as well as Olympic bronze medalist Pascal Dion, who never should be under-estimated when it comes to Short Track.

Kim Boutin CAN Womens 500m ST World Cup Dordrecht Day 1

Kim Boutin (CAN) competing in the Women's 500m final during the 2021 ISU World Cup Short Track in Dordrecht, Netherlands.© International Skating Union (ISU)

A total of 12 teams are competing in Beijing this year.

Women’s 500m and Men’s 1000m Heats
The day starts with the Women’s 500m and Men’s 1000m heats. Schulting, Boutin, Choi and Kristen Santos (USA) are competing plus Italian legend Arianna Fontana, who is after a record ninth Olympic medal.

Schulting (NED) hopes to become the first female Short Track Skater to sweep the three individual distances 500m, 1000m and 1500m at the Olympic Winter Games.

In the Men’s 1000m, Ziwei Ren, Dajing Wu, Pascal Dion as well as Sjinkie Knegt and the Liu brothers will start their individual medal quest in Beijing.