Schulting and Wu on top in Pyeongchang and two more medals for Canada

Short track speed skating at the Pyeongchang olympic games ended today at the Gangneung ice palace.

By Jackob Savard

Photos by Martin Holtom, Schaats Foto’s and Fiák Blanka (podium photo)

19h00 - Men 500m quarter finals

Wu Dajing established a new world record on 500m in the second heat with a fast time of 39.800. J.R. Celski was holding on to this record since 2012. Seo Yi-ra, Han Tianyu and Liu Shaolin Sándor were  penalized in the quarters.

19h14 - Ladie’s 1000m quarter finals

The Olympic path of Marianne St-Gelais ended in the first 1000m quarter as she didn’t manage to qualify for the semis in a race that was won by her teammate Kim Boutin. Valérie Maltais did a great race and finished ahead of the 500m silver medalist Li Jinyu to advance to the next round.

19h42 - Men 500m semifinals

After a little bump at the start broke one of Samuel Girard’s blade, the race was stopped for security reasons and Girard and Liu Shaolin Sándor had to change their blades before the restart of he race. It was finally Wu Dajing and Girard who were able to qualify for the A final. The Koreans Lim Hyo-jun and Hwang Dae-heon would join Girard and Wu in the main final.

19h51 - Ladie’s 1000m semi finals

Kim Boutin and Arianna Fontana were the firsts to qualify for the A final. Valérie Maltais’s Olympic games ended in this semi as she was penalised. Suzanne Schulting managed a perfect race and she qualified for the A final. Shim Suk-hee and Choi Min-jeong, who was advanced, also qualified.

20h14 - Men 500 final

It was a crazy fast 500m main final as every skaters raced an under 40 seconds 500m with Wu Dajing bringing down is brand new world record to a crazy low 39.584. Hwang Dae-heon and Lim Hyo-jun took silver and bronze. Canadian star Samuel Girard finished in fourth place.

20h26 - Ladies' 1000m final

Suzanne Schulting surprised everyone by winning the A final crossing the finish line ahead of Kim Boutin and Arianna Fontana. It is the first short track speed skating Olympic gold medal ever for a Dutch woman in short track! Kim Boutin took her third medal of the Games with the silver while Arianna Fontana won the bronze on the distance. This is Fontana's eight career olympic medals.

21h00 - Men 5000m relay finals

The finals started with the United States beating Kazakhstan and Japan in the B final. In the main event, it's the Hungarian team consisting of Burjan Csaba, Viktor Knoch, Liu Shaolin Sandor and Liu Shaoang that won the gold. They set a new olympic record of 6:31.971 and beat China and Canada for the highest place on the podium. The Koreans suffered a fall and finished in last place. With this medal, Charles Hamelin joins Marc Gagnon and François-Louis Tremblay as the Canadian short track speed skater with the most career olympic medals in Canada. Pascal Dion won his first ever olympic medal as Samuel Girard and Charle Cournoyer got their second olympic medal with this one on the relay.

That's it for short track in Pyeongchang! The majority of these skaters will meet again at the ISU short track world championships in March in Montréal. Passion/Speed/Skating will be there!

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.  

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Lorentzen takes gold - Surprise finishes by the Chinese and Koreans

Havard Lorentzen of Norway claimed the gold medal and set a new Olympic record, while Min-kyu Cha of Korea thrilled fans to capture the silver medal. Twenty-year old Tingyu Gao of China rounded out the podium to cap off an exciting night of skating at the Gangneung Oval.

By Maria Dalton

Photos by Schaats Foto's

Havard Lorentzen strikes gold

Havard Lorentzen captured the gold medal in thrilling fashion with his olympic record time of 34.41. His time today lowers the previous mark set by Casey Fitzrandaolph (USA) in Salt Lake City in 2002. The last Norwegian to win a gold medal in the 500m was Finn Helgesen, who won gold in St. Moritz 70 years ago. Coming into the Olympic games, Lorentzen had won three gold medals in the 500m on the 2017/2018 World Cup circuit. Under the guidance of Jeremy Wotherspoon the Norwegians have become a force to be reckoned with in the sprint distances and have had massive successes in recent seasons.

Min-kyu Cha of Korea finished in second, a mere 0.01 seconds behind Lorentzen. The crowd favourite Korean thrilled fans with his blazing time of 34.42, which momentarily stood as the Olympic Record until it was broken two pairs later.  The 24 year old’s best finish this season was a 2nd  place in the 500m at the Calgary World Cup. He competed in the World Single Distance Championships last year at the Gangneung Oval where he finished in 12th, and his time today vastly improved upon his time of 35.01 from the last year.

Rounding off the podium was Tingyu Gao of China, who raced to a bronze medal with a time of 34.65. At only 20 years of age, Tingyu Gao becomes the first Chinese man to win an Olympic medal in speed skating. The Chinese skater wasn’t considered by many to be a medal contender, as he has yet to win one in a World Cup event. With his performance today, this young skater has put the world on notice and will surely continue to excel in the distance as his career progresses.

Numerous skaters had issues with their blades picking the ice at the start line and unfortunately Artur Nogal of Poland suffered a fall straight off the line. This is very disappointing for the Polish skater who was looking to improve on his finish from four years ago in Sochi.

Disappointment for the Canadians

Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, QC was the highest Canadian finisher. He skated in the last pair but came up short with a time of 34.934 for an 11th place finish. This is a disappointing finish for the Canadian who has had a very strong season, having won gold medals in the 500m at the fall World Cups in Calgary and Salt Lake City. The other two Canadians in the mix today were Gilmore Junio from Calgary, AB and Laurent Dubreuil from Levis, QC. Junio, who is competing in his second Olympic games, finished in 17th place with a time of 35.158. Dubreuil, who was considered by many to be a medal threat in the 500m, finished a disappointing 18th with a time of 35.16.

Women’s Team Pursuit Qualification

The Dutch continued their strong performance at these Olympic games and qualified first with an Olympic Record time of 2:55.61. This time eclipsed their previous mark set four years ago in Sochi. Leenstra and De Jong will be on the hunt for their second medal of the games, while Ireen Wust will be looking to add a third medal to her haul.  The Japanese have been virtually untouchable this World cup season in the team pursuit and qualified second with a time of 2:56.08.

The Canadian trio of Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Josie Morrison qualified for Wednesday’s semi-finals with a time of 2:59.03. Going into the Olympics, the Canadians were ranked third in the World cup rankings. The United States rounded out the quartet of teams advancing to the semi-finals, having qualified with a time of 2:59.75.

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.

RESULTS – Men 500m

Havard Lorentzen (NOR) – 34.41 (OR)

Min Kyu Cha (KOR) – 34.42

Tingyu Gao (CHN) – 34.65

Mika Poutala (FIN) – 34.68

Daichi Yamanaka (JPN) – 34.78

Joji Kato (JPN) – 34.831

Ronald Mulder (NED) – 34.839

Nico Ihle (GER) – 34.89

Kai Verbij (NED) – 34.90

Jan Smeekens (NED) – 34.930

Alex Boisevert-Lacroix (CAN) – 34.934

Kim Jun-Ho (KOR) – 35.01

Arthur Was (POL) – 35.02

Tsubana Hasegawa (JPN) – 35.08

Mitchell Whitmore (USA) – 35.13

Tea-Bum Mo (KOR) – 35.154

Gilmore Junio (CAN) – 35.158

Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) – 35.16

Pekka Koskela (FIN) – 35.19

Pedro Causil (COL) – 35.19

Daniel Greig (AUS) – 35.22

Ignat Golovatsiuk (BLR) – 35.23

Johnathan Garcia (USA) – 35.31

Stanislav Palkin (KAZ) – 35.33

Artyom Krikunov (KAZ) – 35.34

KImani Griffin (USA) – 35.38

Tao Yang (CHN) – 35.42

Henrik Fagerli Rukke (NOR) – 35.500

Joel Dufter (GER) – 35.506

Mirko Giacomo Nenzi (ITA)  - 35.51

Jiaxuan Xie (CHN) – 35.545

Mathias Voste (BEL) – 35.546

Piotr Michalski (POL) – 35.64

Ching-yang Sun (TPE) – 35.86

Roman Krech (KAZ) – 35.92

Artur Nogal (POL) – 58.75

RESULTS - W Team Pursuit

Netherlands – 2:55.61 (OR)

Japan – 2:56.08

Canada – 2:59.03

United States – 2:59.75

China – 3:00.01

Germany – 3:02.65

South Korea – 3:03.76

Poland – 3:04.80

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Fontana crowned champion, van Kerkhof and Boutin caused a surprise

Arianna Fontana took the gold medal on 500m at the Gangneung ice palace on the second day of short track at the Olympics.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Schaats Foto’s

In the second day of short track in Pyeongchang, the ladies raced in the 500m quarters, semis and finals while the men skated in the 1000m and relay qualifications.

Major surprise in the 500m quarters

The competition started with Marianne St-Gelais’s disqualification on the first turn of the first heat. She fighted hard with Yara van Kerkhof after the start and caused a fall. The referees stopped the race and disqualified Marianne. Marianne will have three other chances to race for a medal in the 1000m, 1500m, and ladies’ relay. ‘’I’ve never seen a call like that in my life. It’s incredible.‘’ said Marianne after the race.

Semi-finals ladies’ 500m

Choi Minjeong established a new Olympic record of 42.422 in the first semi-final. Arianna Fontana, Yara van Kerkhof, Elise Christie and Kim boutin, who was advanced, were going to join Choi in the A final.

Fontana on top

In a hard fought A final, Arianna Fontana won her 6th Olympic medal. After Choi Minjeong’s disqualification and Elise Christie’s fall, Yara van Kerkhof got silver and Kim Boutin got the bronze medal.

Qualifications men 1000m

The 1000m qualifications were packed of action. Liu Shaoang, Han Tianyu and Vladislav Bykanov were disqualified in their respective heats. Canadian olympic medalist Charle Cournoyer did not advance for the quarter finals. After he broke one of his blades, J.R. Celski skated on one spare blades and didn’t manage to qualify. On a more positive note, Charles Hamelin established a new olympic record on 1000m.

Relay semi-finals

China and Canada finished first and second in the first heat. Sjinkie Knegt was penalized on Samuel Girard in the last turn of the relay and the Netherlands did not qualify for the final. In the second heat, Korea skated a new olympic record. The Hungarian team finished in second and will join them in the A final.

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.

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Gold medal and records for Sven Kramer, Bloemen gets silver

Sven Kramer makes history by setting a new Olympic record and becoming the first man to win three consecutive gold medals in the 5000m.

By Maria Dalton

Photo by Schaats Foto's

On a night that saw both a false start and a photo finish, both relatively uncommon in long distance races, it was Sven Kramer that stole the show with his record setting performance.

Three in a row for Sven Kramer

Kramer started off on pace with the Ted-Jan Bloeman’s time but pulled away and continued to build momentum over the course of the race. He broke his previous Olympic record of 6:10.76 (set in Sochi in 2014) with his gold medal winning time of 6:09.76. With this gold medal he becomes the first man to ever win three consecutive gold medals in the 5000m, further solidifying his place as one the greatest skaters of all time. Sven Kramer’s race today in the 5,000m gives us a good idea of the type of racing we can expect to see from him in the 10,000m later this week.

The pair of Ted-Jan Bloeman and Sverre Lunde Pedersen rounded out the podium. Both skaters started strong, with Bloeman getting off to a quick start and Pedersen trailing. Pedersen overtook Bloeman during the middle portion of the race when the Canadian seemed to get a bit tense and lose some momentum. However, the last two laps saw Bloeman push back and overtake Pedersen, and in a photo finish not commonly seen in distance races, it was Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloeman who came out on top to capture the silver medal, with the Norwegian settling for bronze.

Lee Seung-Hoon had the crowd behind him as the lone Korean skater in the men’s 5000m where he fought through the second half of the race to post a time of 6:14.15 – enough for a fifth place finish.

Canada’s first speed skating medal
Canada’s first speed skating medal came courtesy of Ted-Jan Bloeman. His time of 6:11.616 was enough to beat out Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway for the silver medal. Competing in his first Olympic games, Ted-Jan Bloeman who was born in the Netherlands, has started off with a bang and given us a taste for what’s to come later in the week with the 10,000m.  Ted moved to Canada in 2014 and has been solid in the lead up to the 2018 Olympic games. This past December, Bloeman broke Sven Kramer’s 5000m world record in Salt Lake City, a record that had stood for 10 years. Bloeman’s silver medal is the first medal in the 5000m for a Canadian man since Willy Logan won bronze at the 1932 games in Lake Placid. Ted-Jan Bloeman’s performance today marks an important milestone in the history of the Canadian program.

If the results today are any indication of what’s to come later in the week, we are certain that as the competition rolls on we will continue to see more great skating from the Gangneung Oval.

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.

Results - M5000m

1-Sven Kramer (NED) – 6:09.76

2-Ted-Jan Bloeman (CAN) – 6:11.61

3-Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) – 6:11.61

4-Peter Michael (NZL) – 6:14.07

5-Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR) – 6:14.15

6-Bart Swings (BEL) – 6:14.57

7-Jan Blokhuijsen (NED) – 6:14.75

8-Nicola Tumolero (ITA) – 6:15.48

9-Seitaro Ichinohe (JPN) – 6:16.55

10-Patrick Beckert (GER) – 6:17.91

11-Alexis Contin (FRA) – 6:18.13

12-Moritz Geisreiter (GER) – 6:18.34

13-Simen Spieler Neilsen (NOR) – 6:18.39

14-Nils Van Der Poel (SWE) – 6:19.06

15-Bob De Vries (NED) – 6:22.26

16-Ryosuke Tsuchiya (JPN) – 6:22.45

17-Livio Wenger (SUI) – 6:24.16

18-Havard Bokko (NOR) – 6:24.51

19-David Ghiotto (ITA) – 6:29.25

20-Andrea Giovannini (ITA) – 6:30.71

21-Emery Lehman (USA) – 6:31.17

22-Adrien Wielgat (POL) – 6:31.71

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