Between November 2nd and the 9th of December 2018, the best skaters in the world competed in the first three World Cups of the 2018-19 season. Here is our mid-season bulletin for team Hungary.
By Florence Gauthier
Photo: Danny Kim (@dk_st)
Some countries have seen their athletes stand out on 500m, 1000m, 1500m and relays so far. One of these countries is Hungary. Shaolin Sandor Liu and Shaoang Liu continued their ascent, while Petra Jaszapati stood out among the women. Good performances were also seen during the men's relay and the new distance of the mixed relay.
The Liu brothers among the best
After finishing the 2017-2018 season in second place at the World Championships, Shaolin Sandor Liu started the new season by capturing a bronze medal in one of two 500m finals at the World Cup #1 in Calgary, Canada. He climbed on the podium for a second time in an individual distance at the World Cup #2 in Salt Lake City, USA, winning the gold medal in the first 1000m of the weekend. His brother, Shaoang Liu's first part of the season was even more fruitful. At the first World Cup, he climbed on the second step of the podium in the 500m and won the A final of the 1000m. After a penalty in the A final at the 1000m in Salt Lake City, Shaoang Liu got back up and won bronze in the 500m. At the World Cup #3 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he won the gold medal in the 1000m and went on the second step of the podium in the 500m.
Petra Jaszapati wins a gold medal
At the first World Cup in Calgary, Petra Jaszapati qualified in the B final of the 500m where she finished first. In Salt Lake City, her course to a medal in the 500m stopped in the quarterfinals where she finished 5th in her race. When she arrived in Almaty, she seemed in good shape. After winning her semifinal race, she was first on the line in the A final. From the start, she took the lead in the race. Towards the end, the other three skaters fell, giving her a 7-second lead over the others. Jaszapati had a big smile at the medal ceremony, where she held her first World Cup individual gold medal.
World record in the men's relay
From the first World Cup of the season, the Hungarian men relay started in force. In addition to winning the gold medal, Csaba Burjan, Cole Krueger, Shaolin Sandor Liu and Shaoang Liu set a new world record of 6:28.625. They came back at the top of the podium in Salt Lake City, with Alex Varnyu replacing Cole Krueger. At the same World Cup, Sara Luca Bacskai, Petra Jaszapati, Shaolin Sandor Liu and Shaoang Liu won the gold medal in the mixed relay event.
The next World Cups will be held from February 1st to 3rd in Dresden, Germany and from February 8th to 10th in Torino, Italy but first the Hungarian skaters will be competing at the European Championships starting on January 11th in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
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