The world’s best short track speed skaters resumed competition this Halloween weekend for the second round of the 2010-11 Korean Air ISU World Cup Short Track season. The circuit remained in Canada, with skaters competing at the Pavillon de la Jeunesse in Quebec City. A total of 21 countries participated, but with the Korean team absent for a second consecutive World Cup.
Like last weekend, the team from Canada led the medal count, earning a total of 9. Having the first two stops of the Korean Air ISU World Cup Short Track circuit on home soil was definitely an advantage for the Canadians, who were cheered on by the local fans. However, the competition was tight, with the team from the United States taking home 7 medals and China 6. Italy had a great weekend, earning 4 medals, and France returned home with 2. Other countries to earn medals were Great Britain (1) and Japan (1).
With qualifications scheduled on Friday, the first medals were presented on Saturday afternoon. This weekend, the skaters competed in 1000m events twice, along with racing in the 500m, 1500m and Relay events. In the first of two 1000m events in the ladies’ competition, it was Lana Gehring of the United States who took the win, finishing ahead of Arianna Fontana (Italy) and Marianne St.-Gelais (Canada). In the second event, Yang Zhou of China finished ahead of Katherine Reutter (USA) and Elise Christie (GBR). The second-place finish allowed Reutter to take the lead in the World Cup classification for the distance.
The ladies’ 1500m Final was won by Yang Zhou, which gave the Chinese skater the World Cup lead in this distance. The American Katherine Reutter was second, with Biba Sakurai of Japan taking third. On the men’s side, Michael Gilday of Canada took the win in the 1500m Final, while Nicola Rodigari of Italy was second. Third place finish went to Maxime Chataignier of France. The World Cup distance classification in the 1500m went to Guillaume Bastille.
The 500m Finals were once again dominated by Canadian skaters, who took the win in both the ladies’ and men’s events. For the ladies, it was Marianne St.-Gelais who finished first, with Arianna Fontana (Italy) taking second. Kexin Fan of China was third. With her win, St.-Gelais leads the World Cup distance classifications in the 500m.
This Halloween weekend competition concluded with the Relay events. The ladies’ 3000m Relay Final was won by China for a second consecutive weekend, earning them the World Cup lead in this distance. Canada and the United States swapped places, with the Canadians finishing second, and the Americans third.
The next stage of the Korean Air ISU World Cup Short Track takes place on December 3-5, 2010 in Changchun, China.
