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Xandra Velzeboer and Selma Poutsma (NED) out in front in the Women's 500m in Seoul, Republic of Korea © ISU
First local hero Kim Gilli (KOR) produced yet another flawless 1500m skate and then Dutch duo Xandra Velzeboer and Selma Poutsma could not be split in the 500m final as the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating came to a scintillating end in Seoul.
Rising star Poutsma arrived at the final sprint of the year having never beaten her storied teammate on a global stage. The 24-year-old will return home to the Netherlands having still not managed the feat – but she is now the proud owner of a 500m World Cup gold medal.
“I never thought I would experience such a finish,” Poutsma said after tying with Velzeboer in the final in a time of 43.128 seconds. “I was really hoping I would once get a golden medal and now we both have. It’s a story I will never forget, it’s very special. It’s crazy. It’s awesome. I think you can tell the happiness on my face.”
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Xandra Velzeboer and Selma Poutsma (NED) with their gold medals alongside Wang Ye (CHN), Seoul, Republic of Korea © ISU
The pair have looked a class apart all season and so it proved in the Korean capital. They dominated their respective semi-finals and after little more than a lap of the final, it was clear the roommates were engaged in a private battle. Bronze medallist Wang Ye (CHN) finished almost three-tenths of a second behind – a relative age in the sprint. Even China’s five-time 500m world champion Fan Kexin (fourth) had no answer.
“To win together as teammates, roomies even, it’s insane actually, really unbelievable,” Velzeboer, the 500m world champion and world record holder, said. “This was the first one (I’ve) shared.”
Remarkably, the duo were not done.
Netherlands are the reigning women’s Olympic and world relay champions and although this is a new quartet, with the three-time Olympic champion Suzanne Schulting on a sabbatical, not much has changed. Not least because their final changeover is from Poutsma to Velzeboer.
Netherlands Women's Relay team celebrates gold in Seoul, Republic of Korea © ISU
“Whenever I push her I feel totally confident and I scream,” Poutsma said with a smile after helping the Netherlands claim a second successive World Cup relay win. The Dutch finished almost half-a-second ahead of Korea, with China taking bronze.
“It’s always really great when I get the last two pushes, I hear ‘let’s go’ and I think ‘OK, I will go’,” Velzeboer said, before adding, “It’s good to end on a high note.”
Unbeatable Kim
Despite being unable to break Korea’s relay curse – neither the men nor women have won a single World Cup relay race this season – Gilli is undoubtedly ending 2024 on a high too.
The 19-year-old is practically untouchable right now over 1500m. Not even Hanne Desmet’s (BEL) bold attempt to disrupt her rhythm worked, with the Korean claiming a second distance win in two days and a third of the season.
“I thought my chance of winning went up because it’s really difficult to skate like that,” Gilli said of Desmet’s uncommon tactic to skate out hard at the beginning of the brutal race.
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Kim Gilli (KOR) takes 1500m gold ahead of Kristen Santos-Griswold (USA) and Hanne Desmet (BEL), Seoul, Republic of Korea © ISU
The Belgian revealed it was a move born out of necessity.
“I’ve never done that before. I felt really bad after my semi-final, nauseous, I threw up. I was talking to my coach and I was like ‘What are we going to do?’ and he was like ‘well, you can try to skate away…” Desmet said.
The Olympic bronze medallist opened up a quarter-of-a-lap lead very early on with the excitement levels audible in the arena. Not that fellow distance supremo Kristen Santos-Griswold (USA) was overjoyed.
“I was definitely surprised and it was unfortunate I had to be the one to chase and close it back but someone had to do it. When it’s someone so strong you can’t let them go,” explained the USA skater who ended up second behind Gilli, with an exhausted Desmet third.
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Kim Gilli (KOR) celebrates victory in front of home fans in Seoul, Republic of Korea © ISU
Desmet was still pleased she had given it a go, even if she did acknowledge that it played into Gilli’s hands.
“I think she (Gilli) saw Santos going after me and she was like ‘this is perfect, my two opponents are going to kill each other’,” Desmet laughed before turning her attention to just how good Gilli is.
“She’s impressive. The three of us are a very nice match. Me and Santos look at each other a lot and Gilli often goes away with it. Tactically she is just really good,” the Belgian said.
Santos-Griswold, who sits 60 points behind Gilli in the season-long Crystal Globe race, agrees.
“She’s an amazing skater. While I am disappointed with second, I am honoured to be disappointed with second. I will go home and train and hope to get her the next time.”
For full entry lists and further information about the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series, please visit webpage here.
All Media Accreditations details and deadlines for the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series can be found here.
World Cup Classification - Men
Overall World Cup Classification
World Cup Classification - Women
Overall World Cup Classification
World Cup Classification – Mixed Relay
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the Saturday and Sunday afternoon (local time) World Cup sessions via their national broadcaster/channel.
For countries where there are no broadcasters and for the qualification and repechage races, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to watch webpage here.
Subscribe to the ISU YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #ShortTrackSkating.
ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Oct 20 - 22, 2023 Montréal /CAN
Oct 27 - 29, 2023 Montréal /CAN
Dec 08 - 10, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 15 - 17, 2023 Seoul /KOR
Feb 09 - 11, 2024 Dresden /GER
Feb 16 - 18, 2024 Gdansk /POL
About ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. Launched in 1997/98, the Series usually consists of six events (four during an Olympic season) that take place in North America, Europe and Asia.
The competitions have a single distance character across nine distances (500, 1000 and 1500 meters for Women and Men, Women 3000 meters Team Relay, Men 5000 meters Team Relay and a Mixed Gender Relay over 2000 meters). In 2022, the series introduced an Overall World Classification based on an accumulation of points from all individual distances which ultimately determine a Combined Season Ranking and a Season Champion in the Women and Men categories. These Champions are awarded with the ISU World Cup Short Track Crystal Globe Trophy.
Each competition is held over three days (day 1 is dedicated to all Qualifying Rounds, days 2 and 3 consist of the last Qualifying Rounds followed by the World Cup sessions). For the Mixed Gender Relay Teams (2 Women & 2 Men), the Women 3000 meters Relay races and Men 5000 meters Relay races a maximum of four Skaters shall compete and must belong to the same ISU Member. For further information please visit isu.org.
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