Nagoya Jour 2: Keita Watanabe remporte une médaille devant ses partisans

Les amateurs de patinage de vitesse courte piste Japonais rassemblés au Nippon Gaishi Arena ont eu le bonheur de voir un de leurs favoris atteindre le podium en cette première journée de remise de médailles à Nagoya.

Par Carl Savard
Photos par Tony Chung (@SHORTTRACKHD)

1500m: Watanabe sur le podium - Boutin continue d'empiler les médailles

Dans une grande finale masculine relevée lors du premier 1500m du weekend, deux Japonais prenaient le départ au grand plaisir des amateur locaux. Keita Watanabe 27 ans et le jeune Shogo Miyata 16 ans avaient rendez-vous avec le Hongrois Liu Shaoang, le Russe Alexander Shulginov, le Chinois An Kai et les Coréens Kim Dong Wook et Park In Wook. C’est avec quatre tours à faire que tout s’est joué dans cette finale. Alors que Watanabe était en tête, son compatriote Miyata a tenté un dépassement intérieur pour se glisser en deuxième place. Liu Shaoang a bloquer la route du jeune prodige pour maintenir sa position. Un geste pour lequel il a finalement été pénalisé mais qui a enlevé toute chance à Myata de se battre pour une médaille. Fidèle à leur habitude, les patineurs Coréens stationnés derrière en observateurs ont profité de l’incident pour ouvrir la machine et passer devant. Keita Watanabe a tout de même réussi à résister aux attaques du Russe Shulginov et du Chinois An pour remporter le bronze alors que Kim remportait l’or et Park l’argent. Miyata a dû se contenter de la sixième place.

Du côté des femmes, la Canadienne Kim Boutin a maintenu le rythme remportant une cinquième médaille cette saison. Boutin a atteint la grande finale à chacune des distances individuelles à laquelle elle a pris part en ce début de saison 2019-2020, montant sur le podium à chaque fois.  C’est avec une médaille d’argent que Boutin termine cette épreuve alors que la Coréenne Kim Ji Yoo remporte l’or. L’Italienne Arianna Fontana remporte le bronze, elle qui a bien choisi le moment d’attaquer avec trois tours à faire dans une course remplie de dépassements.

1000m: Park Ji Won et Noh Ah Rum l'emportent

Comme ils l’avaient fait sur le premier 1500m du weekend, les Coréens ont remporté l’or sur 1000m autant du côté des hommes que des femmes. Du côté des hommes, Park Ji Won l’a emporté passant la ligne d’arrivé devant Liu Shaoang et le Russe Semen Elistratov. Le Canadien Steven Dubois a bataillé avec acharnement tout au long de la finale mais a dû se contenter de la quatrième place après avoir  été dépassé au dernier tour de l’épreuve. 

Chez les femmes, c’est Noh Ah Rum qui a mis la main sur la médaille d’or. La Néerlandaise, championne du monde en titre sur la distance et au cumulatif, Suzanne Schulting repart avec l’argent alors que l’Américaine Kristen Santos remporte la médaille de bronze. Une médaille américaine qui fait du bien alors que l’équipe est présentement en reconstruction. 

Relais: Encore les Coréens

Les Coréens ont complété leur journée en or en remportant la victoire lors de l’épreuve de relais mixte. Les Russes ont terminé au deuxième rang. L’équipe Chinoise a été pénalisée lors de cette grande finale permettant à l’équipe Néerlandaise formée de Daan Breeuwsma, Itzhak de Laat, Lara van Ruijven et Suzanne Schulting de remporter la médaille de bronze malgré une chute de van Ruijven.

Les courses reprendront dimanche avec la présentation de la dernière journée du tableau principal et des finales sur les distances de 1500m, 500m et les relais féminins et masculins par équipe.

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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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Schulting and Lim crowned 2019 overall world champions in short track

Lim Hyo Jun offers the best performance by a man at the World championships since Kwak Yoon Gy in 2012 and Suzanne Schulting puts the icing on the cake of a path to glory that started eighteen months ago.

By Carl Savard

Photos by Martin Holtom

After van Ruijven, it was time for Schulting to make history

The fans were granted with the strongest 1000m final possible on the women’s side of the board as Choi Min Jeong, Suzanne Schulting, Kim Boutin, Kim Ji Yoo and Sofia Prosvirnova had to fight each other for the title on the distance but also for major points in the overall ranking. The race started with a pretty fast pace and with just a few laps to go, it became pretty clear that Suzanne Schulting wanted to keep her title of Queen of the 1000m. The Dutch star won the race in a decisive manner. With a strong come back, Choi Min Jeong (2nd) was able to take advantage of the fact that Boutin (3rd) fought Schulting for a few laps and was able to beat her at the finish line.

In the 3000m, all eyes were on Schulting, Choi and Boutin and the ladies sure delivered. Schulting’s teammate Lara van Ruijven played the cat and mouse game for a few laps to gather some points but it was hard not to stay focus on Schulting and Choi who were glued to one another all through the race. The Queen of the 1000m is now Queen of the world as the 21-year-old crossed the finish line in first place to become the 1st Dutch woman in the history of the sport to become world champion. A great finish to a journey that began last season when Schulting’s results  started being more consistent. Last year’s winner Choi Min Jeong finished 2nd while Canada’s Kim Boutin finished 3rd. Finishing 4th, Lara van Ruijven misses the podium but nobody will ever erased the fact that she is the first ever female Dutch skater to win a gold medal at the world championships. A great finish to a great season for van Ruijven.


In the 3000m relay, things seemed to be going well for the Netherlands until Suzanne Schulting fell close to the end of the race. Korea wins the title on the distance, while Russia finishes 2nd and Canada 3rd.

Lim Hyo Jun didn’t need the 500m to win the overall title
Four of the top seven skaters after Saturday’s competition were part of the A final on 1000. Hwang Dae Heon, Lim Hyo Jun, Ren Ziwei and Semen Elistratov were joined by Keita Watanabe and Tommaso Dotti to fight for gold on the distance. For Watanabe and Dotti this final meant the possibility to gather some points to climb up in the top eight and participate in the 3000m superfinal. In an exciting race led for the most part by Elistratov, Lim and Hwang crossed the finish line 1st and 2nd but Hwang was penalised. Elistratov finishes 2nd and Watanabe 3rd. With this podium, Watanabe was able to secure a spot in the 3000m.

On 3000m, Lim Hyo Jun showed his dominance by winning his third final of the weekend. No man had gathered over 100 points at the World championships since Lim’s compatriot Kwak Yoon Gy in 2012. Lim replaces Charles Hamelin, 18th this year, as reigning world champion. His teammate Hwang Dae Heon who finished 3rd last year, finishes second while Russia’s Semen Elistratov completes the podium finishing third. Canada’s Samuel Girard closed his championships in 4th place while Japan’s Keita Watanabe, who was 14th at the beginning of day 3, climbed up to 6th place with his performances on 1000m and 3000m.

In the men's relay, Korea won the title finishing ahead of China and Hungary.

Day 1 recap

Day 2 recap

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Schulting et Lim couronnés grands champions 2019 en courte piste

Lim Hyo Jun offre la meilleure performance masculine aux Championnats du monde depuis son compatriote Kwak Yoon Gy en 2012 alors que les résultats plus constants de Suzanne Schulting depuis dix-huit mois culminent en couronnement.

Par Carl Savard

Photos par Martin Holtom

Après van Ruijven, au tour de Schulting de passer à l’histoire

Les fans ont eu droit à une excellente finale sur 1000m alors que Choi Min Jeong, Suzanne Schulting, Kim Boutin, Sofia Prosvirnova et Kim Ji Yoo y avaient mérité une place. La course a débuté sur un rythme assez rapide et avec quelques tours à faire il est devenu clair que Suzanne Schulting était déterminée à garder son titre de Reine du 1000m. Une victoire sans équivoque de la jeune Néerlandaise. Avec une accélération classique en fin de course, Choi Min Jeong (2e)  est parvenue à profiter de l’énergie dépensée par Boutin (3e) dans sa bataille contre Schulting pour la coiffer à l’arrivée.

Sur 3000m, tous les yeux étaient fixés sur Schulting, Choi et Boutin et les trois ont à leur façon livré la marchandise. La coéquipière de Schulting, Lara van Ruijven, a joué au chat et à la souris en début de course pendant que les fans gardaient le focus sur Schulting et Choi attachées une à l’autre pour la majeure partie de la course. Finalement, la Reine du 1000m est maintenant Reine du monde puisque l'athlète de 21 ans remporte ce 3000m et par le fait même le titre de championne du monde au cumulatif, une première pour une Néerlandaise. Le point culminant d’une montée vers les plus hauts sommets qui a débuté la saison dernière alors que Schulting a commencé à obtenir des résultats plus constants. La gagnante de l’an dernier, la Coréenne Choi Min Jeong, termine au 2e rang alors que la Canadienne Kim Boutin termine 3e. Bien qu’elle ait terminé au pied du podium au 4e rang, la performance de Lara van Ruijven ce weekend mérite d’être soulignée, elle qui a été hier la première Néerlandaise à remporter une médaille d’or en championnat du monde. Une belle performance, pour mettre fin à une saison plus que satisfaisante pour la patineuse de 26 ans.

Au relais 3000m, les choses allaient rondement pour l’équipe Néerlandaise jusqu’à ce que la nouvelle championne du monde ne tombe en fin de course. Une chute qui aura permis à la Corée de l’emporter devant la Russie et le Canada.

Lim Hyo Jun n’aura pas eu besoin du 500m pour devenir grand champion

Quatre des sept meilleurs patineurs au classement après la journée de samedi avaient rendez-vous en grande finale du 1000m. Hwang Dae Heon, Lim Hyo Jun, Ren Ziwei et Semen Elistratov étaient de la partie en plus de Tommaso Dotti et Keita Watanabe. Pour ces deux derniers, une bonne performance au 1000m pouvait les propulser dans le top huit et leur permettre de participer à la super-finale sur 3000m. Dans une course excitante menée en bonne partie par Elistratov, les Coréens Lim et Hwang ont passé la ligne d’arrivée en première et deuxième place, mais Hwang a été pénalisé, laissant sa place sur le podium a Elistratov. Terminant au 3e rang, Watanabe gagne son pari de monter parmi les huit premiers.

Sur 3000m, Lim Hyo Jun n’a fait que confirmer sa domination en remportant sa 3e finale en trois présences ce weekend. Aucun autre patineur n’avait amassé plus de 100 points aux Championnats du monde depuis Kwak Yoon Gy en 2012. Lim remplace Charles Hamelin, 18e cette année, en tant que l’homme à battre la saison prochaine en courte piste. Hwang Dae Heon qui avait terminé 3e l’an dernier, conclu le weekend en 2e position tandis que le Russe Elistratov termine 3e. Le Canadien Samuel Girard complète le weekend au 4e rang alors que le Japonais Keita Watanabe qui était 14e en début de journée termine en 6e position. Une belle remontée pour le sympathique patineur de 26 ans.

Au relais 5000m, Lim a encore une fois passé la ligne d’arrivée en première position lui qui était le dernier patineur à s’élancer pour l’équipe Coréenne. La Chine termine au 2e rang alors que la Hongrie termine 3e.

Résumé du jour 1

Résumé du jour 2

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We're now two years old! Happy birthday Passion/Speed/Skating!

Two years. It’s already been two years since we started sharing our passion for speed skating on the web. If Passion/Speed/Skating’s growth started with a steady pace from the get go, the speed it was able to reach in 2018 is highly impressive and it’s with the strong desire to continue to be your favorite source of speed skating news that this new year begins. Even though Jack and I are still doing a huge portion of the job, 2018 couldn’t have been has amazing as it turned out to be without the help of other important people.

Maria Dalton, who joined us just before the Olympics, has done a great job of covering long track for us during the Games and with all the articles she’s written since joining passionpvss.com, she deserves a round of applause. Her work as correspondent in Calgary during the World cup in short track this season has also been important. It helped us cover the event from the inside and inform you even better. With Catherine Mailloux and Julie Doyon still helping us sporadically, Florence Gauthier is now gradually joining the team bringing a new voice to Passion/Speed/Skating. Florence is a short track enthusiast and you should see her name come up more often on our website in the future. Earlier this fall, former short track national team member Caroline Truchon started sharing her love of national records with our readers and we are highly excited about that. Who knows, you may get other types of articles from Truchon in the future.

Some more people deserve sincere thanks from us. Thanks to Patrick Godbout, formerly in charge of media relations at Speed Skating Canada and Nicole Espenant who is now in charge. Salute to the Quebec skating federation (FPVQ) and Marchands de vitesse with whom we have collaborated in the last year. A huge thank you to Nathalie Lambert. Your openness and availability is highly appreciated. Thanks also to the amazing photographers giving us the rights to use their work in our articles.

If during the first year we were able to easily get in touch with provincial and national level athletes from Canada, the fast growing interest in our media helped us develop strong links with elite athletes from all over the world. The second year wouldn’t have been the same without the bond we started developing with the Dutch team. A special cheer for Daan Breeuwsma. Thanks to Liu Shaolin Sandor for always being camera ready and available. The most challenging interview we did this year was with Keita Watanabe from Japan. Thank you Keita for your patience and your kindness. A warm thank you to world champion Elise Christie who offered us a generous interview in time of doubt and turmoil. We will forever be grateful. Thanks to the one and only Elton De Souza for sharing our vision when it comes to developing speed skating in general and believing in what we are doing. Thanks also to every person who helped us with information, facts, researches and personnal experiences proving how much you care about speed skating and its athletes as much as we do.

Finally, thanks to you, our followers. Passion/Speed/Skating’s growth relies as much on you reading, liking, commenting and for sure sharing than it does on us working hard. Talking about you, here are some numbers detailing the last year.

Even though Facebook is making things more and more complicated for pages like ours, we were able to go from 1000 followers to 2000 in the last year and we have been more present on Twitter. We produced about the same amount of video content for Youtube this year but our access to skaters from all over the globe brought our work to a new level. We also launched a newsletter to make sure YOU get all the news in your mailbox. If you haven't joined yet, you definitely should by clicking HERE. Our number of followers on Instagram went up by 220% and we are still working hard toward the magic number of 10 000 followers. If you want to help us out, click HERE and follow us there too. As for the website, we published 281 articles (x2 considering we are doing all our articles in English and French) and the number of visits on passionpvss.com went up by more than 300%!

Thank you very much for celebrating with us this second anniversary! The third year will be awesome, we can feel it.

Carl Savard
Jackob Savard

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L'équipe japonaise courte piste est prête à affronter le monde

Après les Championnats canadiens, les sélections américaines et les championnats nationaux en Hongrie, le Japon tenait également ses sélections récemment et les membres de l’équipe japonaise en vue de la saison de Coupe du monde de patinage de vitesse courte piste sont maintenant connus.

Par Carl Savard

Photo par Oscar van den Bosch

Les 7 et 8 octobre dernier se tenaient les sélections nationales de l’équipe japonaise qui affrontera les autres nations dès le 2 novembre prochain à Calgary. Six femmes et six hommes allaient être retenus au terme d'une compétition lors de laquelle les athlètes allaient s’affronter sur les distances classiques de 500m, 1000m et 1500m.

Chez les femmes, Sumire Kikuchi a connu un excellent weekend terminant première au classement sur 500m et 1500m. Cette dernière avait été la meilleure patineuse sur 500m l’an dernier pour le Japon sur le circuit de la Coupe du monde. Hitomi Saito qui avait terminé au 21e rang mondial en 2017-18 sur 1000m a relevé le défi de se qualifier une fois de plus sur l’équipe japonaise. Elle est montée sur le podium du 1500m lors des sélections terminant au troisième rang. Yuki Kikuchi qui avait été la meilleure Japonaise sur 1500m l’an dernier en Coupe du monde sera également de retour. Shione Kaminaga, Moemi Kikuchi et Ami Hirai compléteront l’équipe.

Du côté des hommes, Keita Watanabe a offert de solides performances remportant le 500m et terminant 2e sur 1000m et 1500m. La compétition aura été plus compliquée que prévu pour le jeune Kazuki Yoshinaga, mais une victoire sur 1000m aura permis au jeune homme de 19 ans de faire sa place sur l’équipe. Hiroki Yokoyama a quant à lui remporté le 1500m pour obtenir son billet pour le circuit de Coupe du monde. Ces trois patineurs avaient terminé dans le top 30 sur 1500m en Coupe du monde la saison dernière. Hijiri Iwashita, Shuta Matsuzu et Teppei Kikuchi compléteront l’équipe japonaise masculine.

Pour en apprendre plus sur les Championnats canadiens c’est ICI

Pour en apprendre plus sur les sélections américaines c’est ICI

Pour en apprendre plus sur les championnats nationaux hongrois c’est ICI

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The Japanese team in short track is ready to fight the world once again

In the last few weeks, Canada and Hungary held their national championships while the U.S.A. announced who will represent them on the World cup circuit in short track speed skating. Here’s more informations on who will be part of Team Japan for the upcoming season.

By Carl Savard

Photo by Oscar van den Bosch

It’s on October 7 and 8 that Japan held its national selection competition to build the team that will represent the Land of the rising sun on the World cup circuit. The season starts in Calgary, Canada on November 2nd. Six women and six men were selected based on their performances last week. Skaters were battling it out on the classic distances of 500m, 1000m and 1500m.

Sumire Kikuchi had a wonderful weekend finishing first on 500m and 1500m in the women's competition. Last year she had been the strongest Japanese skater on 500m during the World cup season and will have the opportunity once again to battle on the circuit. Hitomi Saito finished 21st last year on 1000m and her performances last week were good enough to qualify for the national team again this year, even though her best performance was a third place on 1500m during the selections. Yuki Kikuchi who was the best skater on the team last season on 1500m also secured her place on the team. Shione Kaminaga, Moemi Kikuchi and Ami Hirai will complete the women's team.

On the men’s side, Keita Watanabe’s strong showing got him a spot on the team. The twenty-six-year-old athlete won the 500m and finished second on 1000m and 1500m. Even though things didn’t go as smoothly as expected for Kazuki Yoshinaga, a victory on 1000m was enough for the nineteen-year-old to deserve a chance to represent Japan once again. Hiroki Yokoyama finished first on 1500m during those selections and will also be part of the team. Those three skaters finished in the top 30 in the world last season on 1500m. Hijiri Iwashita, Shuta Matsuzu and Teppei Kikuchi will complete the men's Japonese team.

To learn more about the Canadian championships click HERE

To learn more about team U.S.A. click HERE

To learn more about Hungary's national championships click HERE

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Keita Watanabe - The importance of being heard

By Carl Savard

Photo by Schaats Foto's and Carl Savard

The joy I find in meeting people for interviews isn’t just based on the desire to offer you, our readers, a closer look at the lives of athletes you cherish or want to know more about. It is also based on my love for communication. I like meeting new people, with different backgrounds and different upbringing. Every interview I make for the website has one small thread holding it together, a passion for speed skating, but other than that an interview is two human beings communicating. Two more connections in the big scheme of things. It didn’t take long for me to realise how important communication has been for Japanese skater Keita Watanabe’s career.

The connection is established

I was not nervous to meet Keita Watanabe, even though I had no idea how the interview would go.  I speak english quite fluently but my main language is french. As for Watanabe, he does understand english and speaks it a little bit but in the context of an interview, he didn’t feel like it could work. So it’s with the help of a Japanese interpreter that a French Canadian interviewer and a Japanese skater were able to understand each other in english. “I was around nine years old when I started short track skating. I liked it right away, but it was just for fun at the beginning.” It’s his sister who suggested that he should give it a try, even though for her skating was just a winter hobby. Watanabe didn’t grow up in a really active family.  It is with a big smile and a burst of laughter that the 26 years old athlete told me: “My mother hates sports! She would come to the competition when I was a junior, but not anymore. She’s too nervous!” It’s around 12 years old that skating became more serious for him. That year, in his school yearbook, he wrote “I want to go to the olympics.” The anecdote reminded me of Canada’s Jamie Macdonald who did something similar at around the same age.

Watanabe’s love for short track can be resumed in a few words: high speed and passing tactics. Even though he did try long track, he was discouraged by the fact that his closest possible training site in long track was an outside oval, so he kept his focus on short track. When we met, his international experience had brought him silver and bronze medals in the relay event at the World junior championships and a bronze medal at the beginning of last season at the World cup in Budapest. This year, Keita Watanabe represented his country for the first time at the Olympics and when he got on the ice for his first training there, he was a bit nervous. It was really special for him to be there and it took him a few laps to calm down. He was hoping for better results at the Games but, after a few days, he was able to revisit his performances and learn from his mistakes to make sure the Olympics would have a positive impact on him.

Reaching high-speed connection

When I started asking him questions about his coach of the last few years, Jonathan Guilmette, it became evident that the Canadian coach had an enormous impact on the athlete. To most of my questions until that moment, Watanabe would give me pretty short answers, but when I asked him how he felt about Guilmette, it was like I had open the floodgates of a dam. He didn’t try to answer me in english. He wanted to be sure that his answer was clear as he went on and on talking to the interpreter. “When Jonathan came to Japan, it changed a lot of things. I used to follow what my coach was telling me but I never took decision by myself, never felt I could fully express myself. With Jonathan, he is always communicating, asking how you feel and he wants you to think for yourself. If you have a question, he will always do his best to help you and we will find the answer together. I feel like I’ve improved a lot with him. I’m very thankful.”

It’s how our meeting ended. Our trio separated after about 20 minutes that felt like 5. For twenty minutes we were three human beings who truly wanted to communicate and didn’t see the fact that we were from totally different parts of the world and speaking two totally different languages as a barrier.  A few days after we met, Keita Watanabe and his teammates climbed on the podium of the World championships, winning the bronze medal on the 5000m relay event. Almost at the same time, Jonathan Guilmette announced that he was coming back to Canada, leaving behind a group of Japanese athletes feeling more confident, especially Keita Watanabe.

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