Round up: December 07, 2017

By Carl Savard

Photo by Martin Holtom

Short track: Andy Jung easily wins his spot to represent Australia in Pyeongchang

Like we told you in our November 29 Round Up, the International skating union has announced how many spots each country was allowed to fill for the short track speed skating competition during the upcoming Olympic games that will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from February 9 to 25, 2018. Australia was able to secure spots on the 1500m and 500m for the men’s competition and on the 1000m and 1500m on the women’s side of the board. The country is pretty small on the world scene when it comes to short track speed skating but was able to bring back medals to the Land Down Under twice since the sport was officially added to the Olympic games in 1992. Since Deanna Lockett was the only female strong enough to compete during the World cup season this year, she will compete in Pyeongchang. On the men’s side, four men had to battle it out to get the precious spot but Andy Jung was dominant during both days of competition and earned his right to represent Australia.  

Second place finisher Pierre Boda, who represented Australia at the Sochi olympic games in 2014, will not skate in Pyeongchang but he will travel to Montreal alongside Jung to represent Australia at the World championships at the end of the season.

Short track: Elise Christie nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award

After winning the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the year award back in October, Scotland’s pride Elise Christie is now nominated for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.  The reigning short track speed skating world champion is up against tough competition such as boxing heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua, cycling sensation Chris Froome, running legend Mo Farah and Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton to name a few. Eight men and three women are on the list and the title will be awarded on December 17 in Liverpool. Fellow Scottish star and tennis great Andy Murray has won it three times in the last four years. Elise Christie would be the first short track speed skater to win it. The award was created in 1954 by Paul Fox who at the time was the editor of Sportsview.

Inline: Marathon internacional de Barueri, Brazil

Even though the season of the major events in inline speed skating pretty much ended in October with the 2017 Jeonju inline marathon, some top skaters met two weeks ago in Barueri, Brazil. In the end, Juan Cruz Araldi from Argentina, who was crowned world champion in 2016 on the distance, finished on top. Following him was Colombian star Hamilton Patinado Dorado who had a great season in the European cup this year. Joining them on the podium was nineteen years old Brazilian skater Gabriel Silva. We were not able to find the women’s results of the event and will make sure to update this article if they are made available.