If you thought that regular speed skating seemed difficult and dangerous, just wait until you see short track speed skating. Not only do these skaters have to combat intense G Forces on their turns, but they must navigate around opponents who are within inches of their skates. Over the years, some scary injuries have occurred due to collisions and wipeouts in the short track arena. Sochi has had its share of falls as well, but it has also seen some amazing performances. Below is summary of all the Sochi speed skating action.
The Women’s 1500m Finals 1500m Finals
The Women’s 1500m was an “edge of your seat” race. China’s Yang Zhou and Korea’s Sukhee Shim were the favorites in the race, but American Emily Scott was not going down without a fight. The race started off like a normal speed skating race, but Zhou was playing it back a bit. Then all of a sudden American Emily Scott moves to the front. The crowd was going wild. Zhou, not one to be beat, also makes a move and takes the lead. The race then turns into a mad dash to hold the top 3 spots. Skaters were getting dangerously close to each other, that’s when tragedy struck. A Chinese skater slipped on the inside of the track while Scott was on her outside. The Chinese skater took out Scott’s legs, and the two skaters, along with one more unfortunate victim, skidded into the wall. Though Scott was able to finish in the top 5, her Olympic goal could not be realized. In the end, China’s Zhou made an amazing final burst and beat Korean Shim by almost a full tenth of a second. The final standings were Gold: Yang Zhou, Silver: Sukhee Shim, and Bronze: Arianna Fontana.
Men’s 1500m Finals
This was a big match-up between Russia’s Victor An and the United States’ J.R. Celski. Seven skaters were competing for gold here. Both An and Celski start in the back. Canada’s Hamelin is leading. Celski makes a move with 8 laps to go. Celski takes the lead but is overtaken by the Chinese Han. Hamelin takes over with 5 laps left. Victor An makes a huge move and another skater falls. Victor An is in third and Celski falls back. On final lap, Victor An tries to make a move but finishes in a photo finish for 2nd place. Charles Hamelin of Canada wins the gold in the 1500. Victor An is awarded 3rd place. The 17 year-old Han Tianyu takes 2nd. Celski finishes in 4th place.
The Men’s 1000m Finals
This race not only pitted the world’s best skaters against each other, but there was some interesting political action going on as well. Victor An, formerly a Korean skater, skated for the Russian team at Sochi. Korea had refused to have An skate for them, so he headed off to Russia to train for Sochi. It paid off. Victor An and his Russian teammate Vladimir Grigorev took gold and silver in the 1000m after an exciting race. About halfway through, An made a huge move from the back of the pack and moved ahead of Grigorev and into first. Victor An finished with a 1:25:325. The final medal standings: Gold: Victor An, Silver: Vladimir Grigorev, Bronze: Sjinkie Knegt.
Women’s 1000m Finals
This race was the final chance for a U.S. woman to win a medal. American Jessica Smith started out with the early lead but could not hold onto it. It then came down to a legendary battle between China’s Fan Kexin and South Korea’s Park Seung-Hi. It was close up to the end, and as Park Seung-Hi raced into the finish, Kexin reached forward for the lead and the leader. It was to no avail. Park Seung-Hi takes gold, Kexin gets the silver, and Korea’s Shim Suk-Hee takes bronze.
Men’s 500m Finals
Once again, Victor An shows his skating prowess as he takes the gold in this short race by about 2 hundredths of a second. China’s Dajing Wu takes silver, and Charle Cournoyer of Canada takes bronze. Victor An continues his impressive short track streak.
Women’s 500m Finals
The great short track countries, China and Korea, made their appearance here as well. The race begins with a false start on Korea’s Park Seung-Hi. The race begins and Korea takes the lead and then catastrophe! All skaters except the Chinese skater fall and crash! China is a “no contest” for the gold. The officials must take a look at this one to be sure about what happened. The officials decide that Britain’s Elise Christie must be disqualified for impeding the race. Arianna Fontana takes silver and Korea takes bronze in this very strange race.
Men’s 5000m Relay
This was a race to behold. J.R. Celski’s American team took on Victor An’s Russian team in the relay. At the very beginning tragedy struck as the Dutch skater wiped out taking with him the two other skaters in the race besides the rivals. It was left to America and Russia to duke it out. The teams stayed close at first, but Russia began pulling away. The U.S. could not keep up and Victor An was celebrating before he even crossed the line. Final standings: Russia gold, U.S. silver, and China bronze.
Women’s 3000m Relay
This match had the great rivalry of China vs. South Korea at play. Korea talks the early lead and China starts out in position 4. China moves to just behind Korea with 18 laps to go. China makes a large move with 16 laps to go and passes the Korean. Korea comes up right behind China and it goes neck and neck. Italy goes down with 12 laps left. China holds the lead, but Korea is right on her tail. Korea makes a smooth pass and takes the lead. Korea takes a slightly larger lead. However, China matches her. With 3 laps left, China makes a big move and takes the lead. South Korea makes a bad exchange and it’s neck and neck on the last lap. Korea makes a huge final burst and takes gold! However China is disqualified and Canada takes 2nd with Italy taking 3rd.