The 2009-2010 ISU World Cup Short Track resumed this weekend at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Canada for its third stop of the season. The event was the first of two competitions that will be used as Olympic Winter Games Qualifying events, where countries will be vying for athlete quota entries for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. 

The top four nations in short track speed skating were evenly matched this weekend in terms of medal tally, with all podium finishes going to athletes from China, Korea, United States, and the local favorites, Canada. Team China finished this weekend’s World Cup event with 8 medals, while Canada took 6 medals. The teams from Korea and the United States earned 5 medals each. 

On Saturday, Meng Wang of China continued her domination of the ladies 500m event, by winning her third straight 500m event this season. A strong Kalyna Roberge of Canada provided a good battle with Wang to take second place. Third place finish went to Nannan Zhao of China. With only one more event to go, Wang has clinched the World Cup title in this distance. In the men’s 500m event, it was a North-American affair in the Final A with 2 Canadian and 2 American skaters. Charles Hamelin of Canada took his second consecutive World Cup win in this distance, consolidating his lead in the World Cup ranking. Second and third place finishers were Apolo Anton Ohno and Jeff Simon, both of the United States. 

The 1500m Finals event were also raced on Saturday, and unlike what we’ve seen so far this year, no Korean skaters took the win in either the ladies or men’s events. Katherine Reutter (USA) had a very strong weekend, and her win simply confirmed her form; this is a strong performance as she heads onto home ice next weekend in Marquette. Second place finish went to Ha-Ri Cho of Korea, while Qiuhong Liu of China took third place. Eun-Byul Lee (Korea), despite a disqualification in the Final A hangs on to the lead in the World Cup ranking for this distance. On the men’s side, it was Canadian Charles Hamelin to take advantage of home ice and local support, to take the win in the 1500m event. This was his second World Cup event win of the weekend. Second place went to Si-Bak Sung (Korea), while Travis Jayner (USA) took third. Sung’ second place finish allows him to tie his teammate Ho-Suk Lee for the lead in the World Cup ranking for the distance.

On Sunday, the Chinese skaters dominated the ladies events, with a sweep of the 1000m podium, and winning the 3000m Relay event. In the 1000m, it was Yang Zhou who took the win, ahead of teammates Meng Wang, and Qiuhong Liu. Despite her fourth place finish in the Final A, Katherine Reutter wasn’t able to hold onto the lead in the World Cup standing for the distance, losing out of Meng Wang. The win by China in the ladies 3000m Relay allowed them to increase their lead in the distance classification. Second place went to the United States, and Canada finished third.

On the men’s side, it was the Korean skaters to take the top honors in both the 1000m and 5000m Relay events. Si-Bak Sung took the win, ahead of his teammate Jung-Su Lee. Charles Hamelin (Canada) capped off his excellent weekend with a third place finish. World Cup distance leader remains Jung-Su Lee. In the men’s 5000m relay event, it was once again a two-team battle between Korea and Canada. Despite the loud cheers of the local crowd, the Canadians weren’t able to take the top spot from the Korean team who has now won all 3 relay events this season. Third place finish went to China.

The next ISU World Cup Short Track event takes place on November 12-15 in Marquette, United States. This event will also serve as the final Olympic qualifying events.