06-07 Short Track World Cup Begins
2006-2007 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup Kicks Off in China
Short track skaters from around the globe met in China this past weekend. Their objectives were to dust the cobwebs off their skates & increase World Cup standings.
So far this year there aren’t a lot of surprises across the leader board. The Korean’s dominated in Changchun, China. Ahn Hyun-Soo and Jin Sun-Yu started the competition with 1500m race wins. Ahn won again the next day, claiming the 1,000m top spot just ahead of Canadian Francois Tremblay.
Korea’s lucky seven left two wins for China and one for Canada. Skaters from Italy, Australia, Czech and the USA also competed there. Wang Meng of China won the women’s 500m, and Francois Tremblay was not to be outdone, taking home the men’s 500m title.
The men’s 1500m went to Korean skater Kim Hyun-Kon, but the Koreans were stopped in their tracks when the women’s 1000m went to Wang who took the lead away from Jin in the last lap.
Liu Xiaoying beat Kim Min-jung by inches in the 1500m but was DQ’d “for dangerous sprint.” The women’s 3000m relay gave Korea another easy win, but the story of the day went to China. After biting the ice hard in the 10th lap, the ladies fought back and finished second, ahead of the Canadians. The Korean men’s team also beat the Canadian skaters and claimed their relay title.
For a detailed run-down of the weekend, check out the ISU website.
The next 2006-2007 World Cup races will be October 27 – 29 in Jeonju City, Korea. It will be followed by these competitions: Saguenay, Canada, on December 1 – 3; Montreal, Canada, December 8 – 10; Heerenveen, Netherlands, February 2 – 4, 2007; Budapest, Hungary, February 9 – 11.
