In the last few weeks, Canada and Hungary held their national championships while the U.S.A. announced who will represent them on the World cup circuit in short track speed skating. Here’s more informations on who will be part of Team Japan for the upcoming season.
By Carl Savard
Photo by Oscar van den Bosch
It’s on October 7 and 8 that Japan held its national selection competition to build the team that will represent the Land of the rising sun on the World cup circuit. The season starts in Calgary, Canada on November 2nd. Six women and six men were selected based on their performances last week. Skaters were battling it out on the classic distances of 500m, 1000m and 1500m.
Sumire Kikuchi had a wonderful weekend finishing first on 500m and 1500m in the women's competition. Last year she had been the strongest Japanese skater on 500m during the World cup season and will have the opportunity once again to battle on the circuit. Hitomi Saito finished 21st last year on 1000m and her performances last week were good enough to qualify for the national team again this year, even though her best performance was a third place on 1500m during the selections. Yuki Kikuchi who was the best skater on the team last season on 1500m also secured her place on the team. Shione Kaminaga, Moemi Kikuchi and Ami Hirai will complete the women's team.
On the men’s side, Keita Watanabe’s strong showing got him a spot on the team. The twenty-six-year-old athlete won the 500m and finished second on 1000m and 1500m. Even though things didn’t go as smoothly as expected for Kazuki Yoshinaga, a victory on 1000m was enough for the nineteen-year-old to deserve a chance to represent Japan once again. Hiroki Yokoyama finished first on 1500m during those selections and will also be part of the team. Those three skaters finished in the top 30 in the world last season on 1500m. Hijiri Iwashita, Shuta Matsuzu and Teppei Kikuchi will complete the men's Japonese team.
To learn more about the Canadian championships click HERE
To learn more about team U.S.A. click HERE
To learn more about Hungary's national championships click HERE
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