Speed ​​Skating World Championships – defending the title of Liu Shaoang at 500m

It was the first time in the history of sport that a Hungarian athlete was able to defend his gold medal at the World Cup, and it was the first time that a Hungarian athlete won two gold medals in the same World Cup.

Two-time Olympic champion Liu Shuang, who has won all 10 races in the Canadian city so far, took his fourth World Cup gold in his career after not finding a winner in the 500m and overall last year.

Liu Shaoang continued his run in the quarter-final sprint where he stopped in the 1500m final: he began to take the lead right away, from weakness to winning from top to bottom. The other two young Hungarians were in the same quarter-finals. Silver medalist Pence Nogrady barely managed to start from a double favorite at the Junior World Cup just a month ago, and he got off to a poor start, so the two were ahead of him, and there was no going back from fourth. At the Junior World Championships, bronze medalist Peter Yazapati took fifth place. The first was 13 and the last was 19.

The 24-year-old rider from Ferencvaros had the best time to start the semi-finals of the most advantageous singles track, winning again without a hitch after his main opponent Jordan Pierre Gilles of Canada slipped. However, in the final, he was only able to start from second place because Quentin Vercock had a better time in the second semi-final. However, as the Olympic remote champion, Liu Shaoang was the favorite and quickly proved it, as he easily outperformed his French opponent at the start of the second round and then did not leave the victory out of his hands.

In the women’s case, both Hungarian competitors were seeded into the same quarter-finals. Petra Jaszapaty continued to keep pace with the 2019 European track champion Natalia Malliszywska of Poland, and behind her carried two-time Olympic champion and eight-time world champion Zsofia Konya Sim Szuk Heat of South Korea, who had little time left after overtaking. In the final round, Jászapáti bravely outmaneuvered his most likely opponent on the last lap, although second place would have taken him.

The courage of 23-year-old Jászapát did not gather in the semi-finals, because he did not have a chance to reach the finals after skating in fourth, but went on to reach the junior finals. There he started from the worst four positions and couldn’t even improve that position, so he finished eighth overall, similar to the 1500m. Konya finished 13th in the quarter-finals. In the final, Dutch Olympic champion Zandra Velzibor won the women’s relay race ahead of world champion Kim Putin, who finished second in the last 1500, so none of his eight World Cup medals were gold.

On Saturday, the men’s 5,000m and women’s 3,000m relay semi-finals will be held, and on Sunday the 1,000m, grand finals and relay finals will continue.

consequences:

Men’s 500m World Champion:

————————-
LIU SHAOANG 40573 seconds
2- Quentin Vercoc (France) 40674
3- Stijn Desmet (Belgium) 40.710
… 13. Pence Nograd
… 19. Peter Jászapáti

Women’s 500m World Championships:

———————–
Xandra Velzeboer (Netherlands) 42.476 seconds
2- Kim Putin (Canada) 570 42
3 – Yara van Kerkhove (Netherlands) 42,642
… 8. Petra Jászapáti
… 13. Zofia Konya

Previously:

Men’s 1500m World Championships:

—————————
Liu Shaoang 2:15,096 minutes
2. Pascal Dion (Canada) 2: 15644
3. Stijn Desmet (Belgium) 2:15.716
… 24. Peter Jászapáti
… 28. Pines Nograd

Women’s 1500m World Championships:

————————
Choi Min-jung (Republic of Korea) 2: 23.594 minutes
2. Kim Putin (Canada) 2:24.201
3. Seo Vi Min (Republic of Korea) 2:24,455
… 8. Petra Jászapáti 2: 25,742
… 30. Zofia Konya

(MTI)