Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track - Beijing (CHN) 28-30 November 2008

The third event
of the 2008-09 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track season was held this
weekend in Beijing, China at the Beijing Capital Gymnasium. The
facility was recently used this past summer as the venue for the
volleyball events at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.  

The
Chinese team took advantage of skating on home soil, and dominated the
weekend with an impressive tally of 12 medals. The Korean and Canadian
teams showed their competitive form with the Korean team earning 8
medals, while the Canadian team earned 6 medals. The other teams to
leave Beijing with medals this weekend were the United States (2
medals), Australia (1 medal), and Italy (1 medal).  

This weekend’s Samsung ISU World Cup Short
Track schedule had the athletes compete in the 500 meters distance
twice. Both of the ladies 500
meters events were dominated by the Chinese skaters, who took five out
of a possible six podium finishes. In winning the first 500 meter
event, Meng Wang of China also set a new world record in the distance;
a record that she previously held. Her teammate Qiuhong Liu finished
second, ahead of Tatiana Borodulina, earning Australia its first World
Cup medal of the season.

In the
second of the ladies 500 meters event, it was a podium sweep from the
Chinese skaters: Qiuhong Liu took the win, Tian Yu Fu finished second
and Nannan Zhao in third.

In the
men’s 500 meters event, the Chinese skaters earned a few more podium
finishes however it was the Canadians that dominated the top podium
places in each event. In the first of the men’s 500 meters event,
Charles Hamelin (Canada) took the win ahead of his teammate
Francois-Louis Tremblay. Hong Yang Wang of China finished third. In the
other men’s 500 meters event, it was Olivier Jean (Canada) taking the
win ahead of Si-Bak Sung of Korea and Bao-Ku Sui of China.

The
ladies 1000 meters event was won by Weng Mang of China, earning her a
second top place finish for the weekend. Yang Zhou of China was second,
while Sae-Bom Shin of Korea finished third. On the men’s side, the
Koreans showed their strength, with a one-two podium finish. In the
final, Ho-Suk Lee crossed the line first, ahead of his teammate Yoon
Gy-Kwak. Charles Hamelin (Canada) finished in third.   

In the
ladies 1500 meters event, Eun-Ju Jung (Korea) and Yang Zhou (China)
swapped podium positions from the previous World Cup event in
Vancouver. Eun-Ju Jung took the win this time with Yang Zhou finishing
second. Allison Baver (United States) completed the podium. The men’s
1500 meters event was also won by a Korean skater, with Si-Bak Sung
taking the win. Olivier Jean of Canada managed to split the Korean
skaters, for a second place finish. Jin-Hwan Park (Korea) was the third
place finisher.   

The
weekend concluded with the relay events, with once again both the
ladies 3000m and men’s 5000m races being tightly contested amongst the
podium finishers. The woman’s relay was another battle between China
and Korea. Cheered on by the home crowd, the Chinese team took the win
ahead of Korea. Third place went to the Italians. In the men’s relay
event, the top three teams finished within three tenths of a second of
each other. The United States team finished first ahead of Canada. The
Chinese ended their weekend with a third place finish.