On the women's side, the best teams in the world were battling for relay gold today while the best male sprinters were fighting for individual glory on 500m.
By Carl Savard
Photo by Speed Skating Canada - Patinage de vitesse Canada
The four major powerhouses of short track speed skating had an appointment in the grand final of the women's 3000m relay. The Netherlands, China, South Korea and Canada lined up on the starting line in what was expected to be a thrilling final. The Dutch skaters ended up showing their great power by setting a new world record to take the gold. For Canada, after a good part of the race skating at the back of the pack, Courtney Sarault made a powerful pass with eight laps to go to give Canada hope. Unfortunately, two of the last exchanges of the relay were difficult and Canada finished 4th. The Korean skaters crossed the finish line in 2nd place behind the Dutch, while the representatives of the host country, China, offered a bronze medal to their fans.
In the men's 500m, the three skaters who finished first on the distance during the World Cup season last fall could not make it to the final today. Lui Shaolin Sandor and Ren Ziwei saw their runs end in the quarter-finals, while reigning Olympic Champion Wu Dajing had to settle for a win in the B-final. The main event was still promising as Hungarian Liu Shaoang, bronze medallist in the 1000m and Canadian Steven Dubois, silver medallist in the 1500m, took their spot on the starting line alongside Russian Olympic Committee athlete Konstantin Ivliev, Kazakh Abzal Azhgaliyev and Italian Pietro Sighel. Opportunities to overtake in a 500m final are limited and skaters rarely have more than one chance to make a move that will help them win or at least improve their starting position. Dubois, who started fourth on the line, made the choice to make his unique move in the first sixty metres of the race. With an inside pass on the Kazakh after the first turn, the Canadian moved from 4th to 3rd place while in front, Liu and Ivliev had already broken away from the group. Dubois finished 3rd to win his 2nd medal of the games. Meanwhile, Lui Shaoang also added to his collection by winning gold while Konstantin Ivliev won silver.
The short track speed skating competition of these Beijing Olympic Games will end on Wednesday with the crowning of the Olympic champion in the women's 1500m and the men's 5000m relay.
For the complete schedule and results click HERE
Read our previous articles about the Olympics
0 commentaires:
Publier un commentaire