A world record for Kim Boutin - Viktor Ahn adds more medals to his comeback weekend

Just like that, the first of six World cup events of the season came to a close in Salt Lake City. Legends, superstars and newcomers offered quite a show all through the weekend and it was a great start to what will most definitely be an exciting season. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Tony Chung (@SHORTTRACKHD), Oscar van den Bosch (Schaats Foto's)

A world record and a gold medal for Boutin

After setting a new world record on 500m in the quarterfinals, Kim Boutin was ready to grab her first medal on the distance today but to do so, she had to race against Lara van Ruijven, Qu Chunyu and Martina Valcepina winner of the first 500m of the weekend yesterday. Boutin took the lead from the get go. Italy’s Martina Valcepina tried putting some pressure on the leader but she fell which created a small gap and the other two athletes were not able to come back on Boutin. Kim Boutin won the gold, while China’s Qu Chunyu won silver and Lara van Ruijven from the Netherlands ended up with the bronze. 

On the men’s side, Wu Dajing, Liu Shaolin Sandor, Abzal Azhgaliyev and Kim Dong Wook had to battle each other to get on the podium. World record holder Wu Dajing, who missed the podium yesterday, was not going to pass a second opportunity to show his prowess on the distance and ended up skating the fastest time on 500m this weekend to win the gold. He was joined on the podium by Liu Shaolin Sandor (silver) and Abzal Azhgaliyev (bronze).

Schulting and Hwang win the 1000m, Ahn grabs another medal

In the 1000m competition, reigning overall world champion Suzanne Schulting won the gold medal. The Dutch superstar was almost passed with just a few meters to go but her composure allowed her to keep her position and win the race. She was joined on the podium by two Chinese skaters, Han Yutong (silver) et Zhang Chutong (bronze). A fall by Korea’s Seo Whi Min, who was penalised, and Russia’s Sofia Prosvirnova also took place during the race.

On the men's side of the competition, the main final on 1000m was a highly exciting one. Semen Elistratov, Park Ji Won, Hwang Dae Heon, Han Tianyu and Viktor Ahn were on the starting line. Korea's Hwang Dae Heon won the gold medal while his compatriot Park Ji Won won the bronze. Living legend Viktor Ahn added a silver medal to his collection.

Classic rivalries in the relay events
In the A final of the women's relay event, China finished ahead of its rival Korea to win the gold medal. Finishing third behind Korea was Canada. The Canadian ladies were able to orchestrate a pass following a hesitation by Dutch skater Yara van Kerkhof late in the race to win the bronze.

Viktor Ahn's return seemed to have bring the tension between Russia and Korea to another level. In an action packed relay final, Russia came on top while Korea finished second and Canada third. With this team win, Viktor Ahn ends the weekend with four medals.

Athletes and fans now turn their focus to World cup #2 taking place next weekend in Montreal.

For our recap of day 1, click HERE
For our recap of day 2, click HERE
For the full results, click HERE

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