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

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Japan and Canada both get two wins on day 1 in Nagano

The fourth long track speed skating World Cup of the 2019-2020 season started today in Nagano, Japan. 

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Schaats Foto’s 

On the first day of racing at the M-Wave in Nagano, the best speed skaters in the world fought hard for World Cup glory on 500m, in the mass start and in the team sprint. 

Japan wins both 500m races

Both the men’s and women's 500m were won by skaters from Japan. Yuma Murakami won the men’s category with a track record of 34.584 while his teammate Tatsuya Shinhama and Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov got silver and bronze. Nao Kodaira won the ladies’ 500m in 37.496 and was joined on the podium by Russian Angelina Golikova and Austrian Vanessa Herzog.

Belchos and Blondin golden in the mass start

Canadian Jordan Belchos won the men’s mass start after escaping the pack with three laps to go. This win made him the first Canadian to win gold on the distance at the international level. Mass start specialists Joey Mantia and Bart Swings completed the podium. Ivanie Blondin continued her win streak with a strong victory in the ladies’ mass start in Nagano. Her closest rivals were Nana Takagi from Japan and Mia Kilburg from the United States.

Russia and the Netherlands win the team sprints

The men’s team from Russia was able to win this week’s team sprint in front of Japan and Canada. It was the first men’s team sprint of the 2019-2020 season that the Dutch didn’t win. Note that the skaters who competed on the distance for the Netherlands all season didn't skated today. The ladies’ event was won by the Netherlands while Russia and Japan finished second and third. It was the last time that the team sprint would be raced this season. The ISU rewarded the Netherlands for their wins in the ladies’ and men’s team sprint overall ranking. 

For the full results, click HERE

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Canada takes Day 3 in Nagoya

If Day 2 was marked by the Korean domination, Canada got our attention in Day 3 as the curtain falls on the third leg of the World cup season in short track speed skating. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Tony Chung (@SHORTTRACKHD)

1500m(2): Sarault on the podium - Blais in the main final once again 

It was Courtney Sarault’s turn today to offer Canada a medal on 1500m after Kim Boutin did it on Saturday. A well raced final for the 19-year-old from Moncton, who finished second behind Dutch superstar Suzanne Schulting. China’s Han Yu Tong finished third to win the bronze. Sarault’s teammate Danaé Blais finished in fourth place. It was her second 1500m main final of the weekend. Blais is presently ranked sixth on the distance halfway through this World cup season. On the men’s side, Park Ji Won goes home with the gold while his Korean teammate Lee June Seo wins the silver medal. Ibuki Hayashi was the Japanese hero today offering his fan a bronze medal in the 1500m.

500m: Boutin and Liu in gold

Who better to offer Canada a gold medal in Nagoya than world record holder on 500m Kim Boutin. The 24-year-old led from start to finish to win her sixth medal in six final this season. Arianna Fontana won the silver medal while Korea’s Kim Ji Yoo got the bronze. The actual leader in this World cup season on 500m, Italy’s Martina Valcepina, finished first of the B final while Canada’s Rikki Doak finished seventh overall on the distance. For the men, Hungary’s Liu Shaoang leaves Japan with a gold medal. He was joined  on the podium by Russia’s Pavel Sitnikov and Korea’s Park In Wook. The best Canadian performance on the men’s side went to Jordan Pierre-Gilles who finished seventh overall on 500m after finishing eighth overal yesterday on 1000m. Great results for the newcomer who was competing in his first World cup event in career. 

Relay: A silver medal for the Canadian ladies

Another medal was added to the Canadian loot as the women’s relay team was able to win the silver medal finishing second behind Italy. Korea had originally won the race but was penalized after review. The American team was also penalized while the Russian won the bronze. On the men’s side of the competition, China, Korea and Russia finished in that order. Russia sits presently in first place of the season ranking in the men’s relay.

Athletes are now travelling to Shanghai for the fourth leg of the 2019-2020 World cup season that will be held next weekend.

For Day 1 recap it’s HERE

For Day 2 recap it’s HERE
For full results it’s HERE

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Nagoya Day 2: Watanabe Keita pleases the local fans

Japanese fans filling the Nippon Gaishi Arena in Nagoya, Japan today had the pleasure of seeing one of their own get on the podium after a great performance on 1500m. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Tony Chung (@SHORTTRACKHD)

1500m: Watanabe pleases the fans - Boutin keeps piling the medals

In a highly exciting main final on the first 1500m competition of the weekend, two Japanese ahletes had the opportunity to give local fans a reason to celebrate. Keita Watanabe and young upcoming star Shogo Miyata had to fight against Hungary’s Liu Shaoang, Russia’s Alexandre Shulginov, China’s An Kai and Korea’s Kim Dong Wook and Park In Wook. The faith of this race was decided with four laps to go. While Watanabe was playing locomotive at the front, his teammate Miyata tried to go from third to second but Liu Shaoang blocked him by moving from the outside to the inside. Liu ended up being penalised for his action after the race but the incident totally killed Miyata’s momentum. In a classic Korean move, Kim and Park used the confusion to move ahead ending up the race in first and second position respectively. Watanabe grabbed the bronze medal while Miyata had to settle for sixth place. 

On the ladies’ side, Canada’s Kim Boutin is still on a roll. She won her fifth medal in five main finale raced this season so far. Boutin won the silver medal. She was beaten By Korea’s Kim Ji Yoo. Italy’s Arianna Fontana’s experience paid off has she waited for the perfect moment to step on the gas and place herself in third place with three laps to go. A position she was able to maintain to win the bronze. 

1000m: Park Ji Won and Noh Ah Rum in gold

Just like they did on 1500m earlier, Korean athletes won the gold on 1000m in Nagoya both on the men’s and women’s side of the competition. Park Ji Won was joined on the podium by Liu Shaoang and Russia’s Semen Elistratov. Canada’s Steven Dubois was on the podium for the major part of the race but was passed at the end to finish in fourth place. 

On the women’s side Noh Ah Rum finished in first place beating reigning world champion on the distance Suzanne Schulting who got the silver medal. A feel good medal for the American team, who’s in reconstruction these days, as Kristen Santos was able to finish third and win the bronze medal. 

Relay: Korea once again

Korean athletes completed their golden day with a win in the 2000m mixt relay event. Russia won silver. China was penalised during the race allowing Team Netherland composed of Daan Breeuwsma, Itzhak de Laat, Suzanne Schulting and Lara van Ruijven to win the bronze despite a fall from van Ruijven during the race. 

Athletes will be back on the ice on Sunday for the last day of competition in Nagoya. Another 1500m, a 500m, the 3000m ladies’ relay and 5000m men’s will be raced on the last day. 

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Dutch women dominated the ISU World junior speed skating championships

The ISU World junior speed skating championships were held during the weekend in Baselga di Piné, Italy.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: @jurveenje

The world's best junior skaters in long track competed on 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m / 5000m as well as in the team pursuit, the team sprint and the mass start.

Dutch skaters at the top in the ladies’ competition

A Dutch skater was on every podiums of the weekend. Femke Kok was the most successful as she collected silver medals on 500m and 1000m and a gold medal on 1500m. These performances also gave her the allround world junior champion title. Her teammate Michelle de Jong won the 1000m and finished third on 500m. Also from the Dutch team, Femke Beuling took a gold medal while Robin Groot won a silver and a bronze. The Dutch ladies’ team also won the team sprint event and finished second in the team pursuit just behind Japan. As for skaters representing other countries, Poland’s Karolina Bosiek took three individual medals while Norway’s Ragne Wiklung collected two medals including the victory on 3000m. Italy’s Laura Peveri won the mass start world title.

Jaewon Chung allround world junior champion

Korean Jaewon Chung was crowned allround world junior champion with his great performances of the weekend. The skater who is already competing on the senior World cup circuit won the 1500m, finished second on 1000m and fourth on 5000m. Japanese Koki Kuba was solid in the short distances and was crowned world junior champion on 500m. Dutch skater Janno Botman won the 1000m while German Lukas Mann won the 5000m. Italian Francesco Betti who was on home soil finished third on 1500m and third in the overall ranking. Austria’s Gabriel Odor won the mass start event on the last day of racing to close the competition. In the team events, the Dutch squad won the team sprint while the Norwegians won the team pursuit.

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Mid-season bulletin in long track: Japan

Japan was one of the best countries to compete on the long track World cup circuit in the first four international events of the season.

By Jackob Savard
Photo: Schaats Foto's

During the next few weeks, we will present you mid-season bulletins for some countries that performed well during the first half of the season in short track and long track. To begin this series, here’s our mid-season bulletin for the Japanese long track team.

A solid team of sprinters

When it comes to sprinters, Japan showed they were one of the best nation in the world during these first four World cup events. The ladies’ team was led by Olympic champion Nao Kodaira who won all of the 500m events that she skated. She won 5 gold medals on the distance and is presently ranked 4th in the World cup classification even though she missed two of the seven 500m raced this season. She’s also ranked 6th on 1000m with a gold medal and a silver medal on the distance. Maki Tsuji was another Japanese skater who did well in the ladies’ 500m winning the bronze in Obihiro. She is currently ranked 7th in the World cup rankings. The Japanese squad in the ladies’ team sprint finished third in the World cup ranking.

The men’s sprinting team was also impressive. Twenty-two-year-old Tatsuya Shinhama is currently leading the World cup classification on 500m. His teammates Ryohei Haga, Yuma Murakami and Tsubasa Hasegawa all stepped on at least one 500m podium and are respectively ranked 4th, 5th and 6th in the World cup classification on the distance.

Some good things coming in the longer distances

Japan had better results in the sprint distances but we still saw good things from their longer distances skaters. Allround world champion Miho Takagi had a good start of her season. She is currently 2nd in the 1000m and 1500m World cup rankings. She was also one of the reasons for Japan’s success in the team pursuit. Japan won all three ladies’ team pursuit events of the season. Her sister Nana Takagi is currently in 12th place in the 1500m World cup classification, and in 3rd place in the mass start ranking even if she missed one of the race. 

In the men’s skaters, twenty-two-year-old Seitaro Ichinohe is in the lead of the 1500m World cup classification after four events thanks to a great silver medal in Poland at World cup #3. He’s also making his class in the 5000m. Even if they haven't collected the best results in the individual long distances, Japan finished third in the men’s team pursuit ranking.

Which Japanese skater impressed you the most during the first half of the season?

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Tomakomai Day 3: Weidemann captures her first career individual gold medal

As the second World cup wrapped up in Tomakomai, skaters competed in the men’s and women’s 1000m as well as the long-distance races and the always exciting team sprint event.

By Maria Dalton

Photo by Bill Christ

On the final day of the second World cup on the season many familiar faces found themselves atop the podium in the 1000m, long distance races and team sprint. The Dutch men once again showed their prowess in the 1000m, while Canadian Isabelle Weidemann captured her first individual world cup medal.  

Nuis, Kodaira on top in the 1000m

It was another Dutch podium sweep in the men’s 1000m. Kjeld Nuis brought home his first gold medal of the season in the 1000m after a second-place finish last weekend in Obihiro. The Olympic champion set a new track record with a time of 1:10.453. Kai Verbij improved upon his fifth-place finish from the week before by capturing the silver medal with his time of 1:10.722. Rounding off the Dutch podium sweep was Thomas Krol who posted a time of 1:10.916 to narrowly edge out Havard Lorentzen for the bronze medal. Tae-Yun Kim of Korea completed the top-5.

Nao Kodaira has been on fire so far this season, and her performance today in the 1000m certainly did not disappoint. Kodaira finished with a time of 1:17.31 to set a new track record. Finishing in second place was Brittany Bowe with a time of 1:17.656, just ahead of Vanessa Herzog. Herzog captured the gold medal in the 1000m last weekend in Obihiro, however her time of 1:17.77 today was only good enough for the bronze medal. Rounding out the top-5 were Ireen Wust and Miho Takagi, respectively.

Swings, Weidemann shine in long distance races

Bart Swings found himself atop the podium for the first time this weekend after taking home the bronze medal in the Mass Start just a day earlier. Swings finished with a time of 6:34.857 to set a new track record and bring home the gold medal. Sverre Lunde Pedersen finished with the silver medal, an improvement on his fifth-place finish from just a week prior, with a time of 6:36.865. Rounded off the podium was last week’s 5000m winner, Patrick Roest. Roest finished with a time of 6:37.327 to edge out Ruslan Zakharov for the final spot on the podium. Sergey Trofimov completed the top-5.

Isabelle Weidemann captured her first individual medal on the World cup circuit – bringing home the gold medal in the second 3000m of the season. Weidemann, a 2018 Olympian who has found success in the team events, finished with a time of 4:10.185 to set a new track record and find herself atop the podium. Last week’s bronze medal winner, Martina Sablikova found herself in the silver medal position this weekend in Tomakomai. Sablikova finished with a time of 4:13.005 to narrowly edge out Francesca Lollobrigida who finished with a time of 4:13.472.  Natalia Voronina and Antoinette de Jong rounded out the top-5.

Russia, Netherlands atop the podium in the Team Sprint.

In the men’s team sprint it was the Russians who took home the gold medal with their time of 1:23.540. The team from the Netherlands came up short and here unable to repeat their performance from the week prior, finishing with a time of 1:23.640 to bring home the silver medal. The Canadian trio of Laurent Dubreuil, Chris Fiola and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu finished with a time of 1:24.230 to find themselves in the bronze-medal position for the second week in a row. On the women’s side it was the Netherlands that captured the gold medal with their time of 1:32.100. The trio of skaters from Italy found themselves in the silver medal position with a time of 1:32.120 to bring home their first medal of the season in this event. The bronze-medal went to the Canadians who had a stellar last day in Tomakomai. The Canadians finished with a time of 1:32.810.

For our day 1 recap, click HERE
For our day 2 recap, click HERE

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Tomakomai day 2: Dutch skaters joined the party

World cup #2 in long track speed skating continued today in Tomakomai, Japan.

By Jackob Savard
Photo: Schaats Foto’s

For this second day of racing, the 500m (2), 1500m and mass start events were on the menu. If day one was a great day for Japan, Dutch skaters joined the party on day 2 obtaining solid results.

Another victory for Shinhama in the men’s 500m (2)

The 500m (1) winner Tatsuya Shinhama won his second event in two days with a track record performance of 35.451 in the 500m (2). Russia’s Viktor Mushtakov and Japan’s Yuma Murakami completed the podium. With this victory, Shinhama took the lead in the 500m World cup ranking and is the first men to win the distance two times this season.

Strong showing by Wüst in the ladies’ 1500m

Reigning Olympic champion Ireen Wüst from the Netherlands won the women’s 1500m event of this second World cup of the season. She skated the distance in a time of 1:58.742 to beat Japan’s Miho Takagi and United States’ Brittany Bowe. It was once again a fast competition as the five fastest skaters raced under the previous track record of 2:00.29.

The Dutch swept the podium in the men's 1500m

The men’s 1500m event was dominated by Dutch skaters. Olympic champion on the distance Kjeld Nuis won the race with a time of 1:47.611. His teammates on the Dutch national team and professional team Jumbo, Patrick Roest and Thomas Krol, completed the podium. The first non Dutch skater was Seitaro Ichinohe from Japan who took the fourth place.

Four in four for Kodaira

Nao Kodaira showed once again that she is the fastest skater in the world by winning her 4th 500m event of the season and her 20th in career. She finished the distance in 38.263 to beat Vanessa Herzog and Brittany Bowe who finished second and third. It was Bowe's second bronze medal of the day. It was Herzog's fourth silver medal on 500m this season. She seems to be the only one who could maybe challenge Kodaira at the moment.

Surprising Belarusian victory in the men’s mass start

Thirty-two-year-old Vitaly Mikhailov from Belarus escaped the pack early in the race and nobody was able to comeback on him. Korea’s Cheonho Um won the pack sprint to take the second place while Bart Swings took the bronze medal.

In the ladies' race, the victory was played in the sprint. Korean Kim Bo-Reum won it in front of Italian Francesca Lollobrigida and Canadian Ivanie Blondin.

For our day 1 recap, click HERE

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