Saluting national records - Bulletin #4 - Beginning of 2019

There are fifty-one new national records in short track speed skating since the beginning of 2019.

By Caroline Truchon

Photos by Bert van Lobenstein and Danny Kim

European Championships - Dordrecht

The European Championships held January 11-13 in Dordrecht, Netherlands, were the theatre of eleven new national records. First, in the 1500m Ireland's Ryan McAnuff improved his previous record by 4 seconds, from 2:18.744 to 2:14.413. Bulgaria's Dimitar Georgiev improved his record by 2 seconds to bring it to 2:15.148.

In the 500m, Turkey's Firat Yardimci improved his national record on 500m twice to finaly set the time at 41.878. The old record was 42,216. The biggest improvement in the 500m came from Hanne Desmet, who went from 44,439 to 43,796!

In the 1000m, we only had one national record to report. Augustin Géré from Luxembourg brought the record from 1:26.22 to 1:25.369.

Finally, in the women's relay, Croatia improved their time by one and a half second to establish the mark at 4:34.464. On the men's side, Turkey improved their time by almost 6 seconds for a 6:51.690.

Junior World Championship - Montreal

Maame Biney was the queen of the 500m at World juniors, winning the gold medal, but also setting a new junior world record of 43.212 on the distance. The old record belonged to Petra Jaszapati of Hungary (43,550).

Malaysian Hazim Shahrum lowered the 1500m national mark by more than 3 seconds to set it at 2:26.268. He also improved the mark in the 500m by 1 second (44.843) as well as the 1000m by more than 2 seconds (1:31.278). His compatriot Sean Qi Jun Yeo held the 1000m record for two days, going from 1:33.632 to 1:31.752 before losing it to Shahrum on Sunday.

Finally, Singapore's Trevor Tran improved the national record in the 1500m by 1.5 seconds, going from 2:23.517 to 2:22.034.

World Cup # 4 - Dresden

It was in Dresden that we had the highest number of national records with a total of 23. In the 1500m, the biggest improvement came from Thailand's Triphop Thongngam. He broke his own record by almost 4 seconds to place it at 2:19.175.

It is in the 500m that we saw the most records being beaten. Here are a few: Turkey's Firat Yardimci lowered the national mark by almost a second to set a 40.936. Australian Andy Jung also improved a record dating back to 2014 by half a second for a 40.884. American Maame Biney followed on her momentum from World juniors by lowering the senior national record of her country (43.014). The French Aurélie Monvoisin now owns the national mark with a time of 42.757. Her compatriot Dmitry Migunov also inscribed his name in the French books of records establishing a 40.304.

In the 1000m, Croats Katarina Buric and Martin Kolenc lowered the national marks to place them at 1:34.889 and 1:27.488 respectively. The old records were 1:35.499 and 1:28.246. Thailand's Triphop Thongngam got back his old record that was beaten by his teammate in Montreal to establish a 1:29.563. The queen of the 1000m this season, Suzanne Schulting also lowered the national mark of the Netherlands by half a second to set it at 1:27.338. The previous record also belonged to her (1:27,792). Finally, the young Chinese Zhang Chutong beat the Chinese mark to stop the clock at 1:27.547.

In the relay, six national records were beaten. Germany (4:10.563), the Czech Republic (4:13.879) and France (4:08.344) lowered the national mark on the female side. Poland (6:48.340), Japan (6:36.136) and Italy (6:36.548) did the same on the men's side.

World Cup # 5 - Torino

In the 1500m, only Trevor Tran of Singapore lowered his national mark, but he did it by almost 2 seconds to stop the time at 2:20.244. The old record was 2:22.034.

In the 500m, the skater from North Korea Cheo Un Song, who's not often seen on the World Cup circuit, has established a new national mark at 41,790. The old one was at 42,402 and was dating back to 2015. Martin Kolenc from Croatia also set a new mark at 42,010. The old record was 42,709. Also in the 500m, Thailand's Triphop Thongngam stopped the clock at 42.503 lowering its own record previously set at 43.174.

Finally, in the 1000m, Thongngam also lowered his record to 1:28.937. Hanne Desmet of Belgium set a new national record, going from 1:29.942 to 1:29.482.

Obviously, I did not mention all the national records that have been beaten since January 1, 2019. You can access the whole list HERE

Last season 122 new national records were set. We are now at 144 and the World championships have not been competed yet. We will certainly see some more records fall by the end of the season!

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Saluting national records: Bulletin #3, December 2018

Par Caroline Truchon

Photo par Danny Kim

When it came to breaking national records in short track, last December's World cup #3 saw the smaller countries having a lot of success. Eleven records were broken, for a total of 93 this season before the start of the European championships that are going on right now. New national records were beaten after Almaty in other competitions.

On 1500m, Singapore's Trevor Tan broke Lucas Ng's old record twice over the weekend in Kazakhstan by 0.147 to set it at 2:23.517. Thailand's Triphop Thongngam broke a 2013 record set by Teerit Vongkovit placing it at 2:22.936. The old record was 2:23.758. Finally, the local crowd saw one of their own, Olga Tikhonova, lower the national mark at 2:21.260 which previously belonged to Long A Kim at 2:22.265.

In the 500m, Oleh Handei of Ukraine lowered his own mark twice during the competition to establish a 41.236, compared to 41.563 from last year in Montreal. Belarusian Hanna Izafatava set a new national record at 44.894. The old record was 44.993, owned by Vera Trybul. Singapore's Trevor Tan broke another of Lucas Ng's record bringing the one on 500m down to 43.094. Thailand's Triphop Thongngam also reduced his own mark in the 500m by almost a second (!), from 44.035 to 43.174.

In the 1000m, only Poland's Natalia Maliszewska lowered the national mark to set it at 1:28.866. The old record belonged to Magdalena Warakomska at 1:30.263. Natalia now owns the national records on 500m and 1000m.

In the relay, Belarus lowered their national mark on the women side by almost a second, from 4:24.946 to 4:24.074, thanks to the efforts of Hanna Izafatava, Mariya Izafatava, Katsiaryna Chystaya and Volha Talayeve.

Finally, two other records were beaten after Almaty. The 1000m women's national record of Bosnia and Herzegovina was beaten by more than 3 seconds at the Alpe Adria Trophy - Serbian Open on December 2nd. Samra Selimbegovic set a new mark at 1:40.020. The old record also belonged to her at 1:43.226. Augustin Géré of Luxembourg lowered his own mark in the 1000m set in Salt Lake City earlier this season, with a time of 1:26.22, compared to 1:26.535.

With a total of 93 national records so far this season, I'm not worried that we're going to pass the 100 mark. With Dordrecht, Montreal and Dresden coming in the second half of the season, we'll definitely see a lot more records fall. To see the full record sheet click HERE.

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Saluting national records: Bulletin #2, 2018-11-22

Par Caroline Truchon

Photo par Danny Kim

The first two World Cups are now behind us and we witnessed some exceptional performances. 75 national records were beaten, for a total of 79 so far this season.

Two world records were shattered, one in Calgary and one in Salt Lake City. The first one was at the men’s 5000m relay, a record that belonged to the American team and is now in the hands of the Hungarian team. The second is the result of the domination of China's Wu Dajing on 500m. He was already holder of the 500m world record since the last Olympic games. He improved the record by 0.079 seconds, but every improvement in this record is a huge achievement in itself. I personally believe that within 4 years, we will see the 39 seconds bar being crossed. The bets are open!

Several other performances are worth highlighting, I have analyzed a few for you:

• Let’s start with Luxembourg, the country that broke the most national records during these first two stages. The 500m record was 42.961 at the beginning of the season, it is now 41.411 and belongs to Augusté Géré. It’s an improvement of 1.55 seconds, which is huge!
• In the 1000m, still on the men’s side, the national record was 1:29.288. After two weekends of competition, it is still Augustin Géré who holds this record, but with an improvement of 2.753 seconds. The record is now at 1:26.535.
• Also, for Luxembourg, but this time on the women’s side, Caroline Murphy improved the national records of the 500m and 1000m by 2 seconds during the two World Cups to set a 45.052 and 1:34.171 respectively.

• A new country has joined the World Cup scene and it is the Philippines. Julian Macaraeg holds the 500m record with a time of 43.936, an improvement of half a second. In the 1000m, it is also Macaraeg who holds the record, with a time of 1:29.658, improving it by 6.6 seconds! On the other hand, it is in the 1500m that we saw the biggest improvement, passing from 2:32.645 to 2:23.477(!!!), the record is now owned by Marc Gonzales.
  
  

• The oldest record that was smashed belongs to the Belgian Stijn Desmet, who broke the 500m national record owned by Wim de Deyne since February 2009, almost 10 years ago!
• Still on the Belgian side, it is necessary to underline the performance of Hanne Desmet in the 1000m. She knocked off her national record by more than 3 seconds, from 1:30.860 to 1:27.537.
• Other very old records have also been broken. Aaron Tran of the United States broke a 2010 record owned by Jeff Simon in the 1500m, bringing the record under 2min10sec with a 2:09.928.
• Yuri Confortola from Italy did the same thing in the 1000m this time, also beating a 2010 record, owned by Nicolas Bean, skating a time of 1:23.354 on the distance.

• Natalia Maliszewska improved her own national record from 42.808 to 42.587, which is significant in the 500m. She is getting dangerously close to Elise Christie’s world record (42.335). It will be interesting to see her progress over the next competitions and following seasons.
• The Hungarians improved their national record in the 500m by more than half a second (0.606). Liu Shaoang is now the national record holder with 39.699 settled in Salt Lake City, compared to 40.305 set in February 2017 by his brother.
• Cheyenne Goh improved her own national record in the 1000m by almost 3 seconds. The record is now a time of 1:33.709, compared to 1:36.513 set at the last World Championships in Montreal in March.

• The Japanese women broke their national record in the relay by more than two seconds, which dated from 2012! The same goes for the Japanese men as well as the Canadians who broke their national record in the relay, also dating back to 2012.
• This record can be surprising but unless I'm making a mistake, the Dutch broke their national record in the 5000m relay by almost 8 seconds, from 6:36.198 to 6:28.879!
• The Polish women also improved their national record in the relay by more than 3 seconds going from 4:14.047 to 4:10.932.
• Still on the relay side, the Russian women lowered their 3000m national record by almost 4 seconds, to set it at 4:03.925. The old record was 4:07.842.

Obviously, I have not been able to highlight all the new national records and there are other great performances that have been made during the first two World Cups. You can find them HERE

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Saluting national records - Bulletin #1, 2018-19

By Caroline Truchon

Photos by Danny Kim

Four years ago, just before the Calgary World Cup, me and Dany Lemay, the best short track announcer, were excited to see how many world records would fall during the competition. I pushed my thinking further wondering how many skaters would beat their personal best or the national records of their respective countries. So, I decided to trace all the national records of the countries present on the circuit four years ago, with the help of other foreign skaters in my contacts and internet researches.

The idea was quickly appreciated by the skaters taking part in the competitions, but also by the spectators and the organizers. Not only were world records highlighted, but also the incredible performances of smaller countries that are not necessarily at the forefront. These skaters who improve these records are still the fastest in their respective countries, which is still a great achievement! Now, when Dany is announcing during competition, I make sure to send him the new records after every day, even in the middle of the night when he’s in Asia. Thanks Internet!

Today, my database has tripled since I started making this compilation. This work requires a lot of effort, because I need to check all the results of the competitions around the world. With this colossal task, I estimate my file to be 95% correct. There are still some records that I could miss, of course! Last year, there were 122 new national records, including three world records.

This season, we have already achieved 53 national records, including one world record. Only for the first weekend of the World Cup season in Calgary, there were 49 national records. Luxembourg was the most successful, with 9. Kazakhstan follows with 6. It’s with these records that we can see the evolution of the sport, but also that the smaller countries are making their way from the shadow to the forefront. We can expect much more national records with the World Cup in Salt Lake City this weekend. But there are also other fast ices in the world, like Montreal (World Juniors) and Dresden (World Cup #5).

I will give you a report of the national records beaten after each World Cup, in addition to those broken during other competitions. Only on the first day of the first World Cup of the season in Calgary, 20 national records were broken. For the 2018-2019 season, you can find the national records I’ve compiled so far HERE.

If you ever see errors in some national records, do not hesitate to contact me at caro.truchon@gmail.com

Hoping that you will appreciate these statistics as much as I do!

Caroline

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