Racing resumed today at the crowded Mokdong ice rink in Seoul, Korea, as more points were up for grabs towards the World Cup ranking in the 1000m and Relay events.
Suk Hee Shim extended her lead in the World Cup classification in the 1000m distance by earning the top spot of an all-Korean podium in today’s Ladies’ 1000m final. This was Shim’s second consecutive win in as many weekends. The fans roared when the trio of Shim (first), Seung-Hi Park (second) and Alang Kim (third) crossed the line, having dominated the race. With five skaters at the start line, Jorien Ter Mors (NED) went into an early lead until Shim took over with five laps to go At that point, the Korean skaters picked up the pace and that is when Park and Kim moved into podium positions.
With the individual events over, it was time for the Relay events, to conclude the weekend. In the Ladies’ 3000m Relay final, the same four teams as last weekend’s final were back at the start line: Korea, China, Canada and Italy. While all four teams were close together throughout, it was Korea who led the bulk of the race to finish first just ahead of China. The team from Canada finished in third place, narrowly edging out Italy. The win is Korea’s second in as many events, thus extending their lead in the World Cup ranking for the distance.
The skaters will now take a break from racing, and prepare for the upcoming stops of the Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating events in November. These events will also serve as Olympic qualifiers, with the first one being in Turin, Italy, from November 7-10.
Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating – Seoul (KOR)
