The 2009-2010 ISU World Cup Short Track season concluded this weekend in Marquette, Michigan. The event was the second of two competitions used as Olympic Winter Games Qualifying events, crucial for many athletes vying for Olympic berth, while others were trying to get the maximum quota for their respective countries.
The top four nations in short track speed skating showed their strength this weekend, with Canada and Korea earning an equal tally of 7 medals each. China managed to earn 5 medals while the local favorites, the United States, earned 4 medals. With a strong performance throughout the weekend by Thibaut Fauconnet, France was able to earn one medal.
On Saturday, Meng Wang of China showed she was the queen of the 500m event once again, winning her fourth event of the season. She had already clinched the World Cup title in the distance, and the win simply confirmed her dominance. Canadian skaters had a strong showing taking second and third: Kalyna Roberge finishing ahead of teammate Marianne St-Gelais. In the men’s 500m event, it was Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay to take the top spot on the podium in the Final A, winning ahead of French skater Thibaut Fauconnet who earned his first individual World Cup medal. Korean Si-Bak Sung took third and leaves Marquette having set a new World Record in the distance in his semi-final race. Charles Hamelin of Canada clinches the title in the World Cup distance ranking.
The Chinese woman showed on Saturday that they were strong in the 1500m distance as well, taking first and second place. Yang Zhou finished ahead of her teammate Qiuhong Liu, while third place went to Eun-Byul Lee of Korea. The win also gives Yang Zhou the World Cup distance title, earning enough point to leap ahead of the Korean skater Lee. On the men’s side, it was Korean skater Jung Su Lee taking the win, allowing him to earn the World Cup distance title. American Apolo Anton Ohno pleased the home crowd by taking second place, with Canadian Charles Hamelin taking third.
On Sunday, Meng Wang picked up where she left off on Saturday, taking not only the win in the 1000m event but clinching the World Cup title in the distance as well. Second place went to American skater Katherine Reutter, who also consolidated her second place in the overall ranking. Third place went to Seung-Hi Park of Korea. In the men’s 1000m event, Apolo Anton Ohno added to his medal tally of the weekend, by taking the win in a closely fought race. Jung-Su Lee of Korea clinched his World Cup distance title by taking second place in the event. Third place went to Canadian Francois Hamelin.
As always, the relay events ended the weekend of racing. On the women’s side, it was tightly contested event, with the top three teams finishing within 2 tenths of each other. China edged Korea to win and clinch the overall World Cup distance classification title. Canada was a very close third. In the men’s 5000m relay event, it was the team from Canada to take the win ahead of the United States. Finishing third was Korea, which was enough to clinch the World Cup distance classification title.
The athletes will now take the next few months to prepare for the Olympic Games. The European skaters will have an opportunity to fine tune their preparation at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships on January 22-24 in Dresden, Germany.
ISU World Cup Short Track–Marquette (USA)
Top 3 Results by Category
Ladies 500m
|
|
Name |
Nation |
Time |
|
1 |
WANG, Meng |
CHN |
42.961 |
|
2 |
ROBERGE, Kalyna |
CAN |
43.339 |
|
3 |
ST-GELAIS, Marianne |
CAN |
43.373 |
Men 500m
|
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
TREMBLAY, Francois-Louis |
CAN |
42.437 |
|
2 |
FAUCONNET, Thibaut |
FRA |
43.397 |
|
3 |
SUNG, Si-Bak |
KOR |
1:02.747 |
Ladies 1000m
|
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
WANG, Meng |
CHN |
1:30.005 |
|
2 |
REUTTER, Katherine |
USA |
1:31.081 |
|
3 |
PARK, Seung-Hi |
KOR |
1:31.171 |
Men 1000m
|
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
OHNO, Apolo Anton |
USA |
1:30.420 |
|
2 |
LEE, Jung-Su |
KOR |
1:30.450 |
|
3 |
HAMELIN, Francois |
CAN |
1:30.506 |
Ladies 1500m
|
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
ZHOU, Yang |
CHN |
2:22.700 |
|
2 |
LIU, Qiuhong |
CHN |
2:22.870 |
|
3 |
LEE, Eun-Byul |
KOR |
2:22.919 |
Men 1500m
|
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
LEE, Jung-Su |
KOR |
2:13.595 |
|
2 |
OHNO, Apolo Anton |
USA |
2:13.731 |
|
3 |
HAMELIN, Charles |
CAN |
2:14.216 |
Ladies Relay
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
CHINA |
4:10.785 |
|
2 |
KOREA |
4:10.786 |
|
3 |
CANADA |
4:10.825 |
Men Relay
|
|
|
Time |
|
1 |
CANADA |
6:45.588 |
|
2 |
UNITED STATES |
6:46.420 |
|
3 |
KOREA |
6:48.930 |
Full results
