Erin Jackson (USA) got back to winning ways in Beijing on Friday. At the track where she claimed Olympic 500m gold in 2022, the 31-year-old beat compatriot Kimi Goetz (USA) by 0.01s. Miho Takagi (JPN) made it back-to-back golds in the women’s 1500m, with Chinese duo Han Mei and Li Qishi sucking in the inspiration from the home crowd to take silver and bronze. It was Han's first individual World Cup medal of her career.
“It feels great,” grinned Jackson as she climbed off the podium with her first individual World Cup gold since the 2021-22 season. “There’s a little bit of excitement walking back in here again. You can't help but do something special when you come in here.
“It gave me a little extra boost. Only a bit, I only won by a hundredth [of a second].”
Erin Jackson (USA) wins the 500m at the same venue she claimed Olympic gold © ISU
Jackson stopped the clock at 37.91s, edging out Goetz. The two US skaters have been flipping a coin in their 500m races this season, beating each other in turns by a very small margin.
“I was telling her: I'll let you have this one [because] this is your golden track, but fight for it on Sunday [in the second 500m race of the weekend],” Goetz, who finished eighth in the 1500m less than an hour earlier, joked.
“I’m glad I turned it around,” she said. “It was the first time I skated a 1500m just before I had to do a 500m. After the 1500m, I normally just sit there in pain, while today it was like, ok, I have 20 minutes before I need to put my skates back on. There’s no time to feel bad for myself.”
Goetz is top of the 500m World Cup standings, with rival Femke Kok (NED) down with a fever.
“That’s a bummer,” Goetz said. “Hopefully she's back up there feeling better on Sunday.”
Jackson was also sorry for Kok: “I sent her a message this morning. I always want to race the best, I never want to win by default.”
Jackson had last season’s best, Kim Min Sun (KOR), as pair-mate on Friday. The winner of last year’s World Cup standings finished 0.09s adrift in third place, but still enjoyed the race.
“It’s nice to race against Erin because she always cheers me up and I thanked her for that after the race,” Kim said.
Takagi feels the rhythm at the ribbon
Like Jackson, Miho Takagi (JPN) also has fond memories of the Ice Ribbon. The Japanese superstar won three silver medals and one gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics. “It’s good to be back,” she said, adding that the ice seemed to be a little slower than at Beijing 2022.
She finished the 1500m in 1:55.52, more than two seconds off the track record set by Ireen Wüst (NED) at those Games.
Miho Tagaki (JPN) celebrates victory in the 1500m © ISU
Han Mei had set the bar high with a time of 1:55.92 before Takagi took to the ice against Li Qishi.
“She [Han Mei] was so good today and I got inspired by her,” Takagi said, after a more relaxed performance compared with Obihiro last week.
“Obihiro is my hometown, so I’ve got a different feeling about it,” she explained. “I was very focused to skate there. Here it was a bit more laidback.”
This time, it was the turn of Han Mei and Li Qishi to be inspired by the home crowd.
Silver medalist Han said: “I’m very happy today. The audience was great. The atmosphere was so much better than in 2022, because there was no audience then [due to Covid restrictions].”
“I’m a little bit surprised to have this speed. I’ve worked well with my new team and coach [Johan de Wit (NED)] over the summer. He has always encouraged me and told me that I was able to do this.”
Li overcame a fever to finish in 1:57.01 and take the seventh individual World Cup medal of her career.
“I was even contemplating a withdrawal for today’s race,” she said. “But I’m glad I started and it’s great to have two Chinese women on the podium today.”
With last week’s fourth place and this week’s bronze, Li climbed to second place behind Takagi in the 1500m World Cup rankings. Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) dropped to third after finishing seventh on Friday.
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Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions via their national broadcaster/channel.
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ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Nov 10 - 12, 2023 Obihiro /JPN
Nov 17 - 19, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 01 - 03, 2023 Stavanger /NOR
Dec 08 - 10, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Jan 26 - 28, 2024 Salt Lake City /USA
Feb 02 - 04, 2024 Québec /CAN
About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of Speed Skating competitions which have taken place annually since 1984. The series comprises six events (four during an Olympic season), with A Division and B Division races. Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the Skater with the most points on a given distance at the end of the series is the World Cup winner in that distance. The four World Cup Competitions held from November to December serve as qualifying events for entry quotas at the ISU European Championships, and the ISU Four Continents Championships. The whole series of six events serves as qualifying events for the World Single Distances Championships, and/or the World Sprint and Allround Speed Skating Championships.
World Cup titles are awarded in 500m, 1000m, 1500m, combined 5000m/10,000m, and Mass Start for men, and 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the combined 3000m/5000m, and Mass Start for women. Both genders also compete for the World Cup titles in Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. New in the 2023/24 program is the Mixed Gender Relay over six laps, in which teams of one man and one woman compete.
(For full explanation of this season’s ISU World Cup (entry rules, formats, qualifying, and prizes: https://www.isu.org/speed-skating/rules/ssk-communications/31562-isu-communication-2587/file)
