Christie sets new world record but fails to pick up second successive World Cup win
BySportsbeat
Published 14/11/2016 at 09:24 GMT
Elise Christie set a new world record over 500m in Salt lake City, but the Brit was unable record back-to-back Short Track Speed Skating World Cup victories over the distance as a fall on the last lap opened the door for Marianne St-Gelais to triumph.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
In her quarter-final Christie – who took 500m gold in the opening World Cup event in Calgary – clocked 42.335 seconds to beat Kexin Fan of China and write her name into the record books.
However, the 26-year-old fell in the closing stages of the final, allowing Canadian St-Gelais to take the victory, with South Korean Minjeong Choi in second and Fan third.
In the men's equivalent Abzal Azhgaliyev of Kazakhstan won his first ever individual World Cup gold medal as he took advantage of Samuel Girard's fall on the last lap.
Canadian Girard had led from the start but missed out on the podium as Tianyu Han of China took second and Girard's teammate Charles Hamelin finished third.
The win puts Azhgaliyev at the top of the World Cup rankings for the men's 500m.
South Korean skaters Suk Hee Shim, Jiyoo Kim and Do Hee Noh finished first, second and third respectively in the second ladies' 1500m of the weekend.
Shim took the lead with five laps to go and the win puts her in first place of the World Cup classification for the distance.
Dutchman Sjinkie Knegt won the men's 1500m, setting a new world record of 2:07.943 minutes in doing so.
South Korean Jung-Su Lee crossed the finish line in second place, followed by Semen Elistratov of Russia.
The South Korean women's team followed up their world record by taking gold in the 3000m relay, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and third-placed Canada.
The men's 5000m relay was closely contested with all four teams crossing the finish line separated by less than one second.
In the end China edged out the Netherlands for the win, while Kazakhstan had a strong race to finish in third place ahead of Canada. However, the Netherlands lead the World Cup rankings for the distance.
© Sportsbeat 2016
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