Erzurum / Turkey
Viktor Knoch (HUN) earns first individual World Cup gold meda

Kexin Fan (CHN) won her fifth 500 m final of the season, with yet another race she led from start to finish. Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS) finished in second place, while Elise Christie (GBR) finished in third place. Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) was fourth. There was no change at the top of the World Cup classification for the distance as Kexin Fan had clinched the title last weekend in Germany.


Arianna Fontana (ITA) and Da Woon Sin (KOR) top podium in the second 1000 m events

Arianna Fontana (ITA) won her second individual gold medal of the weekend with a first place finish in the second Ladies 1000 m final. She took the lead with two laps to go from Yui Sakai (JPN) who ended up in second place. Determining the third place finisher required the use of a photo-finish review; the review confirmed that Kim Boutin (CAN) crossed the line in third place, inches ahead of Veronique Pierron (FRA). Genève Belanger finished in fifth place. Suk Hee Shim (KOR) did not skate the event today but had enough points to clinch the World Cup title for the distance. 

Da Woon Sin (KOR) won the second Men’s 1000 m event; this was his second win in the distance this season. Da Woon Sin and Victor An (RUS) exchanged the lead a few times throughout the race, and Sin managed to hold off to An in the last four laps. Third place finisher was Patrick Duffy (CAN) who was right on the heels of Sin and An. Jack Whelbourne (GBR) finished in fourth place. As for the World Cup ranking for the distance, Semen Elistratov (RUS) managed to hold on to the lead he had acquired the previous day to clinch the title.

China wins both the Ladies and Men’s Relay events

China won its second Ladies Relay event of the season, when it held onto to the lead in the last nine laps of the race. Korea was a close second, while Canada finished in third place. Italy spent most of the race at the back of the pack to finish fourth. The second place finish allows Korea to clinch the World Cup title for the distance.

In the Men’s 5000 m Relay, China won the event with a dominant performance, leading all but the first three laps of the 45-lap long race. The event was tightly contested, with all four teams crossing the finish line with less than three-hundredths of a second separating them. Korea finished in second place while Netherlands finished in third place; Russia finished fourth. The Netherlands concludes the World Cup series claiming the World Cup title for the distance.

The top short track speed skaters will now take a few weeks to prepare for the upcoming ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2015 in Moscow, Russia on March 13-5, 2015. In the meantime Osaka, Japan will host the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2015 from February 27-March 1, 2015.