Republic of Korea and Canada have dominated men’s Short Track this season, but the first day of the Nederlandse Loterij 2024 ISU World Short Track Championships was all about China, whose skaters won both individual gold medals on a day of surprises at Rotterdam Ahoy.
Sun Long (CHN) registered the first individual gold medal of his career in the 1500m, while Lin Xiaojun (CHN) – the 2018/19 World Champion and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games gold medallist while skating for Korea, won his first major individual international honour for his new nation.
Sun shines to take 1500m title
Coaching tactics don’t always pay off in the unpredictable sport of Short Track, but Sun and his team could allow themselves a moment of congratulation on Saturday.
“My coach had a very detailed plan for the final for me to follow, and it was very good,” revealed Sun. “They gave me a lot of good suggestions.
“We examined every racer in the final to come up with a plan and it helped me a lot. We thought that it was possible that the leader, the Korean skater, would crash.”
This analysis proved spot on. The favorite pre-race was Park Ji Won (KOR), the current Crystal Globe holder and defending 1500m World champion. Also lining up, however, was Hwang Dae Heon (KOR), the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games gold medallist.
Both Koreans are confident, aggressive racers and looked likely to finish 1-2 here. But in their battle for the top step of the podium, Hwang took Park out of the game. He was penalised, Sun slid through for the title, with Jens van ‘t Wout (NED) pocketing the silver medal and Brendan Corey (AUS) getting a surprise bronze.
Sun Long (CHN) capitalised on falls by the pre-race Korean favorites to slide over for an unlikely 1500m gold. @ISU
“I was quite lucky but I tried my best,” added Sun. “I am very proud, very happy about the success. In the future I think China can get more and more gold medals. You can trust in our team and our coaches.”
‘T Wout was delighted to be back among the medals after a period of disruption.
“Beforehand, I thought the 1500m would be my weakest distance,” he said. “I missed quite some hours [of training] because of my ankle injury, but to be able to walk away with the silver here is incredible.
“It’s been so nice to be able to show myself and what I’m capable of again. To take a silver on the world stage really means a lot.
“I kind of knew instantly that I would move up to a silver, because what the Korean guy did really was something that should not happen. The crowd went wild and that’s just amazing.”
Jens van ‘t Wout (NED, left) returned from injury to take silver ahead of podium debutant Brendan Corey (AUS, right). @ISU
It was Corey’s first podium at senior level and left him ecstatic.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” he said. “I felt confident before the race because I know I’m strong right now. I’ve been working hard all year and everything has accumulated.
“I just went out there and tried to stay relaxed. I blocked everything out except the race. I have no idea when Australia last won a medal at the World Championships. It means so much.
“I hope it gives more recognition to speed skating in Australia, and I hope it inspired the future generation.
"The atmosphere is crazy. Incredible. It is an amazing place to race.”
Lin back on top in 500m
The result of the 500m proved as surprising as the 1500m.
Short Trackers do not usually simply fall over, but the two pre-race favorites here, however – Steven Dubois (CAN), who recently finished second in the Crystal Globe standings, and the European 500m champion Pietro Sighel (ITA) – both tumbled without contact.
Their slips allowed Lin Xiaojun to seal his first World Championship gold since 2018/19, and his first ever for China. Denis Nikisha (KAZ) finished second to take his first World Championship podium, while Jordan Pierre-Gilles (CAN) also picked up his debut Worlds medal – despite also having fallen mid-race.
Lin Xiaojun won his first World Championship title for China - he has previously skated to gold for Korea. @ISU
“It’s amazing, it has never happened before for Kazakhstan, a World Championship medal,” said Nikisha.
“It’s huge for us. We did a big job to finally make it happen. Last season, I was without a medal.
“I was like ‘really?’, like ‘finally’. I was just so happy. It’s a bit of history for us. We have a lot of kids in Kazakhstan and Short Track is not super popular. We have boxing, wrestling. I want to make Short Track more popular than before. Dreams come true. I’m just so happy.”
Denis Nikisha, left, won Kazakhstan's first ever World Championship medal, with Jordan Pierre-Gilles, right, recovering to take bronze. @ISU
Pierre-Gilles added: “It is the strangest bronze medal I’ve ever won. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t even see the other guy falling.
“I was really disappointed when I passed the line, because I thought that was it. Then my teammates told me ‘Man, you were third’. I’ll take it.
“You keep going in Short Track, I learned that early, it’s ingrained in my memory. It’s amazing to win my first World Championship medal. It’s a great end to the season. I took a step up this season. I put it down to the team the staff, we push each other day in, day out.”
Meanwhile, the competitors could all agree on one thing: Rotterdam Ahoy was a wild, noisy party arena on Saturday.
“This is the best atmosphere in the world,” said Pierre-Gilles. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Racing continues on Sunday with the Men’s 1000m.
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the Friday, Saturday and Sunday ISU World Short Track Championships 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 #WorldShortTrack.
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