World cup season is now over in short track

Athletes from all the countries part of the short track speed skating circuit faced each other one last time before the 2022 Olympic Games.

By Carl Savard

Photo by ISU short track

Exciting final in the ladies' 1000m

Suzanne Schulting was already assured of the title of 2021-22 World Cup 1000m overall champion before she even entered the A final today. With Schulting, Boutin, Choi, Maliszewska and Sarault in the main event, thrill seekers could expect a great final. While she often stay in the back waiting to attack in the last third of the race, Choi Min-jeong of Korea only waited three laps this time around before taking the lead. Although Kim Boutin managed to move to the front for a moment, Choi would eventually come back to pass the Canadian on the last lap to take the top honors. Boutin finished in 2nd place winning another medal this weekend. Suzanne Schulting finally crossed the finish line in 4th place, but found herself on the podium with the bronze medal following a penalty awarded to Nathalia Maliszewska. In the final season standings, Schulting finished ahead of American Kristen Santos and Korea's Choi. 

One noticeable absence and one surprising presence in the men's final

In the absence of Hwang Dae-heon, Canadian Pascal Dion also started the 1000m grand final with the assurance of winning the title in the overall standing on the distance. Dion decided to play the observer but was a little too late in launching his attack while the Hungarians Liu Shaoang and John-Henry Krueger were the driving forces of this final. Liu ended up finishing 1st ahead of Krueger while Pietro Sieghel of Italy finished 3rd. Dion finished in 4th place. Canadian fans were treated to another great surprise in the final as Brendan Corey from Fredericton, New Brunswick also took the starting line of this grand final. Corey who's now skating under the Australian flag placed 5th. In the cumulative ranking of the four 1000m events of the season that ended today, Pascal Dion finished 1st ahead of Hwang Dae-heon and Itzhak de Laat.

Relay Results The final laps of the mixed relay final were very exciting as the Netherlands took the gold medal ahead of Hungary by three hundredths of a second. This victory allowed us to see a smiling Sjinkie Knegt once again this weekend and what about the performance of young Jens 'T Woot who won the bet to finish the event in force against Liu Shaolin Sandor. China finished in 3rd place today. In the women's relay, the Dutch gave a gold medal to their fans in Dordrecht. Canada finished 2nd while Italy won the bronze medal. As for the men's relay, veteran Kwak Yoon-gy beat Steven Dubois at the finish line, allowing Korea to win the event, finishing ahead of Canada and Hungary. The men's relay final was also the last laps on the World Cup circuit for veteran Charles Hamelin.

For the complete results of the weekend click HERE

For the final rankings of the season on all distances click HERE

Important dates to remember for the next months

The European Championships will be held from January 14 to 16 in Dresden, Germany, while the Four Continents Championships will be held on the same dates in Salt Lake City, USA. The Olympic Games in Beijing, China will be held from February 4th to 20th and the season will end on the weekend of March 18th to 20th when Montreal will host the World Championships.

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating. 

Read More

Kim Boutin wins gold today in the Netherlands

Kim Boutin came really close to breaking her world record on 500m today.

By Carl Savard

Photos by Martin Holtom

Lee Yubin holds off Suzanne Schulting on 1500m

The top five ranked skaters in the 1500m after three World Cup legs were set to compete in the main final on the distance today. The skaters to watch for the overall season ranking were Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands and Lee Yubin of Korea. After a very strategic start to the race, it became clear in the final laps that the overall ranking mattered to the skaters. The attacks became more intense and Korea's Lee Yubin was able to take advantage of a tight battle between Schulting and Canada's Courtney Sarault to take the top prize today. With the win, Lee finishes first in the overall standings for the 2021-22 World Cup season. Courtney Sarault's silver medal today puts her in third place in the standings, while Schulting walked away with the bronze medal today and finished second overall for the season. 

Sjinkie Knegt's feel good moment

On the men's side, it was good to see 2015 World Champion Sjinkie Knegt back on the podium in the 1500m. Knegt, who has been plagued by bad luck and injuries over the past few seasons, seemed very happy with his silver medal win today in Dordrecht. The Dutch athlete was only beaten to the finish line by Ren Ziwei from China who, in addition to winning the gold medal today, also took the overall title in the distance. The bronze medal went to Korean Park Jang Hyuk who with his 3rd place today also finishes 3rd in the season standings. Russia's Semen Elistratov who settled for 7th place today, finishes 2nd overall. 

Boutin completes the season on 500m with a gold medal

After coming within four thousandths of a second of breaking her world record on 500m in the quarter-finals, Kim Boutin won the main event over the distance following a heated battle with Italy's Arianna Fontana. Suzanne Schulting, last week's winner in the distance, tried a late move to pass Fontana, but her attempt ended up in the mats. Schulting had to settle for 4th place in the final. Russian athlete Elena Seregina took home the bronze medal. In the final ranking of the season, Ariana Fontana finishes first followed by Kim Boutin and Nathalia Maliszewska.

Wu Dajing is ready for the Beijing Olympics

In the men's race, world record holder Wu Dajing was dominant in this last grand final of the season over 500m. The Chinese skater led the race from start to finish and Canada's Steven Dubois seemed to be the only one who could skate closely in Wu's path today. Russia's Konstantin Ivliev finished behind Dubois in 3rd place while Hungary's Liu Shaolin Sandor, who had a fall today, settled for 4th place but still finishes first overall ahead of Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei in the 2021-22 World Cup season ranking.

For complete results click HERE

Although the World cup season is over, the athletes will be back in action in January for the European championships and the Four continents championships. This season will culminate in February with the Olympic games and come to an end in March with the World championships.

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating. 

Read More

World cup Debrecen: Dion keeps on shining for Canada

Pascal Dion leaves Hungary with four medals. Another great weekend for the 27-year-old Canadian. 

By Carl Savard

Photo by Martin Holtom

Dion on the podium once again in the 1000m

Canada's Pascal Dion, leader in the 1000m rankings after two legs, won silver today in the distance to stay in the lead. However, he is only a few points ahead of Korea's Hwang Dae-heon. If both athletes make it to the grand final next weekend in Dordrecht, it promises to be a very exciting show. Dion also helped the Canadian team finish ahead of the Koreans (silver) and the Hungarians (bronze) in the 5000m relay event. Let's not forget that Dion won his first career medal on 1500m yesterday and helped Canada win in the mixed relay by skating in the quarterfinal.

Schulting is untouchable

On the women's side, it seems that nothing and no one was going to stop Suzanne Schulting this weekend in Debrecen. After winning gold in the 1500m and 500m yesterday she added gold in the 1000m today finishing ahead of Choi Min-jeong (silver) and Natalia Maliszewska (bronze). In addition to her individual prowess, Schulting led the Dutch women's team to victory in the 3000m relay to complete her perfect weekend. Canada won the silver medal in this distance while China took the bronze.

Mixed Relay

After a desperate move by Italy's Pietro Sieghel in the semi-final led to a penalty resulting in an advancement, five teams reached the finals of the mixed relay event as Korea, Hungary, Canada, China and France took their places on the starting line. Dominant throughout the race, China won gold finishing ahead of Canada. France also reached the podium to win the bronze medal. 

Other news for Canada

As for the other Canadian performances on this last day of competition in Debrecen, Courtney Sarault finished 5th in the 1000m following a penalty in the grand final. Jordan Pierre-Gilles obtained the same result. The leaders of the Canadian team Kim Boutin and Charles Hamelin had seen their journey end in the quarter finals of the individual distance.

The athletes will meet next weekend in Dordrecht in the Netherlands to complete the World Cup season.

For full results click HERE

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating. 

Read More

World cup Debrecen: Schulting in gold on the first day of the finals

The Főnix Arena in Debrecen, Hungary is the scene of the 3rd round of the World Cup in short track speed skating this weekend and it was finals day in 1500m and 500m today. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Martin Holtom

Ren Ziwei and Suzanne Schulting prevail on 1500m

Today was a day of celebration for Liu Shaolin Sandor who was celebrating his 26th birthday. However, his opponents in the 1500m grand final had no intention of doing him any favors, especially China's Ren Ziwei, Canada's Pascal Dion and Korea's Park Jang-hyuk who won gold, silver and bronze respectively. Liu finished in 5th place. Pascal Dion is currently 4th overall in the 1500m and is currently sitting atop the 1000m rankings.

In the women's event, the top five skaters in the World Cup 1500m rankings after two legs were in the grand final today in Debrecen. In a very competitive final, Lee Yubin was able to maintain her top ranking by finishing second in this final, but she is now only a few points ahead of the big winner of today's final, Suzanne Schulting, who was able to withstand Lee and Choi Min-jeong's sustained attacks in the last two laps to take the gold. Canada's Courtney Sarault won the bronze and is now fourth in the standings with one event to go this season. 

Schulting and the Lius are all smiles on 500m

In a final led largely by world record holder Kim Boutin, it was Suzanne Schulting who finally crossed the finish line in first place adding a second gold medal to her collection today. Italy's Ariana Fontana won silver while Boutin finished in third place. The young Canadian Florence Brunelle finished in fourth place. 

In the men's event, the Liu brothers put on quite a show for their fans as the photo finish was needed to determine the gold medal winner. Liu Shaolin Sandor finally gave himself a birthday present by finishing one hundredth of a second ahead of his younger brother Liu Shaoang to grab the gold. The bronze medal was won by Ren Ziwei from China who was on the podium for the second time today.

The finals on 1000m and the different relay events will be held tomorrow.

For full results click HERE

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating. 

Read More

World cup in Nagoya: Confortola gets first star of the weekend

Yuri Confortola catches the golden snitch in Nagoya while Pascal Dion and Kristen Santos add to their strong start to the season. 

By Carl Savard 

Photo: International Skating Union

A first gold for Confortola 

The Nippon Gaishi Arena in Nagoya, Japan was the venue for the 2nd leg of the 2021-22 World Cup short track season. If Hwang Dae-heon's 500m victory was predictable and Ren Ziwei's 1000m victory was not necessarily a big surprise, Yuri Confortola's 1500m victory definitely puts a smile on the face of short track fans. With this victory, the 35-year-old Italian won his first career individual gold medal on the circuit. Instead of playing cat and mouse for a good part of the race, as it is often the case in a 1500m race, Confortola took the gamble of taking off at full speed from the start. A strategy that paid off for the pillar of the Italian men's national team for so many years. 

In the 5000m relay, Canada won the gold medal finishing ahead of China and Hungary. 

Santos once again

On the women's side, USA's Kristen Santos picked up where she left off last weekend, adding a gold medal in the 1000m to her 2021-22 collection. Italy's Arianna Fontana won the 500m grand final while the Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting did the same in the 1500m. Schulting also helped her team win the 3000m relay. In the mixed relay, Russia won ahead of China and Hungary. 

Dion gets another one for Canada

For Canada, in addition to the men's relay victory, Pascal Dion won another bronze medal in the 1000m this season, giving him the provisional lead in the World Cup standings after two of four events. Dion also competed in the main final on 1500m, finishing in 6th place. Also on the men's side, Steven Dubois was penalized in the 500m main final. On the women's side, Kim Boutin's weekend ended with a 4th place finish in the 500m and a 5th place in the 1000m. Danaé Blais finished 12th in the 1500m. 

The athletes will now head to Hungary to compete from November 18 to 21 for the penultimate round of the World Cup season.

For full results click HERE

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating. 

Read More

The first event of the World Cup season is in the books in short track speed skating

The first World Cup event of the 2021-22 season in short track speed skating was held this weekend in Beijing. 

By Carl Savard

Photo: Wang Yang, Beijing 2022

Uncommon scenarios on 1500m

In addition to being the first World Cup event since February 2020, the weekend's competition also served as a test event for the Beijing Olympic Games, which will be held from February 4 to 20, 2022. With Korea always dominant in the 1500m, short track fans have been accustomed to seeing Choi Min-jeong almost systematically on the podium of the distance in recent years. To open the new season, it was her compatriot Lee Yu-bin who took the honours in the distance this weekend. Canada’s Courtney Sarault (silver) and USA’s Kristen Santos (bronze) joined Lee on the podium. On the men's side, Semen Elistratov of Russia finished first ahead of Kazakhstan's Adil Galiakhmetov and China's An Kai. None of the male skaters representing Korea on the 1500m were able to reach the final.

Santos adds to her collection

In the 1000m, Suzanne Schulting from the Netherlands won her first, and surely not her last, gold medal of the season. Korea's Kim Ji-yoo finished in second place while Kristen Santos reached the podium for the second time this weekend. Later on the final day of competition, Santos also helped her team break the American record in the women's 3,000m relay by winning the B final over the distance. "I felt really good this weekend, my main goal is working to qualify as many spots for the games as possible. I get extremely nervous for races, so I think last year with no races I really thrived and benefited just being able to focus on training and I saw a lot of improvements. So this season I want to be sure to keep that same feeling and not let upcoming races affect me too much. This was a great start to the season and I’m just hoping to build on this momentum throughout the rest of the World Cup circuit and hopefully on my path to the Olympic Games."

On the men's side, Hwang Dae-heon of Korea finished first while Semen Elistratov added a silver medal to his weekend haul and Pascal Dion won his second individual World Cup medal of his career with the bronze on the distance. Dion had won silver over the same distance in December 2016 in Gangneung. "I felt really good. I had legs and I was confident. I knew I could do well but I surprised myself. The ice was great and fast." said Dion after the competition.

Known stars reach the podium on 500m

Partly responsible for epic races held over 500m in recent years, Poland's Natalia Maliszewska took top honors this weekend over the distance. Arianna Fontana begins what could be a historic season for her with a silver medal in the 500m finishing ahead of Choi Min-jeong (bronze). Fontana could become the most decorated short track athlete of all time at the Olympics next February. She is currently tied for first place with Viktor Ahn and Apolo Anton Ohno with eight medals. 

On the men's side, Hungary went for a one-two punch as Liu Shaolin Sandor finished first ahead of John-Henry Krueger. Denis Nikisha of Kazakhstan won bronze. 

In the relay events, China, the Netherlands and Korea took the podium in the women's 3000m while the Netherlands, Hungary and Italy filled the podium in the men's 5000m. The mixed 2000m relay was won by China who finished ahead of the Netherlands and Korea.

The athletes will meet next weekend in Nagoya, Japan for the second World Cup event of the season.

For complete results click HERE

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating. 

Read More

Four track records to end the season in Heerenveen

The 2019-2020 long track speed skating season came to an end today in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

By Jackob Savard
Photo: Maria Dalton

The last 1500m, 500m and mass starts of the season were raced today in Heerenveen during the second day of racing at World Cup #6.

Track records to win the 1500m

Dutch superstar Ireen Wüst won the ladies’ 1500m race in Thialf establishing a track record of 1:53.101. Japanese Miho Takagi and Dutch Melissa Wijfje finished second and third. This win easily confirmed Wüst’s overall world cup classification victory on the distance.

In the men’s 1500m, Kjeld Nuis took gold in front of his teammates Thomas Krol and Patrick Roest who respectively took silver and bronze. He skated a track record of 1:43.00 to win the event. Nuis is the 1500m World Cup ranking champion. 

Two more track records on 500m

Angelina Golikova from Russia won the last 500m of the season skating a track record of 37.023. Japanese Nao Kodaira still won the 500m overall classification finishing second in today’s race while Austrian Vanessa Herzog took third place. 

For a second consecutive day, Japanese Tatsuya Shinhama won the men’s 500m. This time, he skated a track record of 34.067. Canadian Laurent Dubreuil who had an incredible 2019-2020 season finished second as he also skated below the previous track record. It was Dubreuil's third silver medal of the weekend. Japanese Yamato Matsui took bronze. Shinhama is the 2019-2020 World Cup winner on the distance.

Mass start

Dutch Melissa Wijfje and Belarusian Marina Zueva were in a breakaway together for most of the race and the pack never managed to comeback on them. Wijfje won the race, Zueva finished second and Dutch Irene Schouten won the pack sprint to win bronze. 

Korean Jaewon Chung won the men's mass start ahead of Bart Swings and Joey Mantia. Swings is the overall World Cup winner.

For the full results, click HERE

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating.

Read More

Tifany Huot-Marchand: "Like in the school playground when we were kids."

Born in a small village of a hundred souls, it’s through a neighbor and her kids that young Tifany Huot-Marchand, nine years old at the time, discovered short track. She was invited by that neighbor, who had practice the sport in the past, to join them on a hour-long trip to Belfort to put on skates for the first time. An offer that would end up changing her life.

By Carl Savard

Photos by Oscar van den Bosch, Martin Holtom and Tifany Huot-Marchand's personal collection

The first day in school

I’ve heard many stories of how speed skating entered the life of athletes but few have made me smile as much as the  bucolic account of Tifany Huot-Marchand’s debut on skates. "I'd never been on skates before this impromptu outing with the neighbour and my friends. It was the first time I got on skates and it was on speed skates. My sister and I thought it was awesome. We were racing, going fast, having fun with our friends and that's how I ended up falling in love with short track. I used to play sports at school but I had never joined a club. Short track became my first official sport and for several years my parents drove an hour to the rink and back so that I could practice short track. I'll always be grateful to them for that." 

For a many years, practicing the sport was all fun for the French athlete. It’s only in 2010 when she joined the competitive training grounds of the CREPS Font Romeu, a high-level sports performance center located in the heart of the Catalan Pyrenees Regional Natural Park that things became more serious. But talking with Huot-Marchand is also having the impression of talking to French legend Thibaut Fauconnet: pleasure has to stay a major part of the process when reaching for the top. On that matter, she speaks highly of Fauconnet who just retired last summer and joined the coaching staff of the American short track team.  "I've learned a lot from Thibaut since I've been around him. By talking to him and watching him skate. I think you have to keep in mind that it's always going to be a game. Since I've known Thibaut, I see things differently and that's really calming me down. On the ice I tell myself we're all here as friends to race like we did in the school playground when we were kids."

Last year, Tifany Huot-Marchand expanded her competitive playground for a day taking part in an inline speed skating competition in Pamplona, Spain. Placed in the Elite category considering her status as an athlete on the ice made it for a tough first time. "I'm not very good in roller and since I had been placed in the Elite class I had to start among the bests. I wasn't expecting it to push that much and I fell, but it was still a really cool experience."

The new friends

While for many years the French team seemed to be mostly resting on Thibaut Fauconnet’s and Véronique Pierron’s shoulders, a breath of fresh air seems to have reach France as young skaters such as Gwendoline Daudet, Aurélie Monvoisin, Quentin Fercoq and Diané Sellier have come to support Tifany Huot-Marchand, Véronique Pierron, Tristan Navarro, Dimitry Migunov and Sébastien Lepape allowing France to get back into relay action. A situation that even though is not perfect, does bring  a smile to 25-year-old Huaut-Marchand. “It can sometimes be difficult to have a short track career in a country where the sport has no media coverage at all. There are very few licensees, hence the fact that there are few newcomers in the team. At the moment there is a revival. I hope that there will soon be another wave of athletes because it's good to have four girls, but it's still only four and it's sometimes difficult. I do feel we're really strong though. It's kind of the same scenario with the boys. It's been a long time since we've had this many of us getting on the road and competing and it feels good. It’s highly motivating to have a bigger team and it makes you feel stronger." 

Despite the many difficulties attached to being an elite athlete in a sport lacking media coverage and not offering a professional circuit where athletes could make more money,  Tifany Huot-Marchand can’t imagine her life without practicing the sport. "It's hard for me to describe how I feel on the ice. I'm having fun even in practice. In competition whether I cross the line in first or third place if I have given everything I have then I have no regrets. In terms of feelings, it may sound a bit cliché but sometimes you feel invincible, you feel like you're flying on the ice and that's exactly what I like and what I'm looking for."

Top of the class

This season, Tifany Huot-Marchand had in mind to win her first individual World Cup medal. This goal was achieved in Dresden in the fifth round of the season. A bronze medal in the 1500m, a podium that also featured the 2019 World Champion Suzanne Schulting and young Russian sensation Sofia Prosvirnova. In addition to this individual medal, Huot-Marchand and her teammates won a bronze medal in the mixed relay event at the same competition. When looking at the different rankings of the 2019-2020 season, the Besançon-born athlete finished 11th in the final ranking of the 1500m. She was without a doubt  the best French athletes in short track this season. When we met, she also confided to me that she would also like to be on the podium at the World Championships. Since the 2020 event is presently on hold, she may have to wait before impressing her friends in the school yard. 

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating.

Read More