#ShortTrackWorldTour

The second instalment of the brand new ISU Short Track World Tour begins on Friday, 1 November at the Maurice Ricard Arena, Montreal, Canada – and if last week’s action is anything go by, it should be another thriller.  

Home fans were feeling the rush in the debut edition of the World Tour, with the headline act William Dandjinou of the Canadian Ice Maples, winning gold in three events.  

In the women’s field, there was a five-way battle for supremacy that promises to rage all season.  

The race for the new ISU Team Crystal Globe, meanwhile, sees the Ice Maples currently top of the table – but they’re only a handful of points ahead of fellow powerhouse nations, the Korean White Tigers and Dutch Lions.  

Tickets are still available on general sale for what promises to be an unbeatable atmosphere, and supporters who purchased tickets for the ISU Short Track World Tour #2 event in Salt Lake City are eligible for a free ticket to this weekend’s action. 

Kim, Choi, Velzeboer, Desmet, Santos-Griswold: almost impossible to separate  

“It was so hard to find any space to pass,” said Hanne Desmet of the Belgian Ice Bears last weekend about her racing; “that final was stacked,” added Kristen Santos-Griswold of the USA Eagles following the 1000m.  

The same thing was true of almost every race: when the gun fired, it was pretty much impossible to know which of five key athletes – Desmet, Santos-Griswold, Xandra Velzeboer of the Dutch Lions, plus Kim Gilli and Choi Min Jeong both of the Korean White Tigers – was going to get ahead of the pack.  

At the end of play on Sunday, Santos-Griswold had the most points on the board (thanks to two silver medals and a fourth place), but it was Velzeboer who had the most satisfying weekend, winning both the 500m and 1000m.  

The certainties going into another event on the same ice? For one, Velzeboer is undoubtedly currently the best over Short Track’s shortest distance: twice world champion and world record holder, she has the quickest start and is rarely caught. In the absence of Selma Poutsma,  Santos-Griswold is her closest competitor, and the American forced a photo finish last week.  

The 1000m is the place where all five athletes feel like they have a shot: the calm and cool Choi and Kim, who favor the longer distances, come into play, as does Desmet, who can ace all three races. 

Velzeboer drops from contention in the 1500m, where the two Korean White Tigers and Desmet are supreme: Kim once again showed a tactical and technical maturity – one that she has learned much from Choi about – to win the distance last weekend.  

One person who might disrupt the order? Ariana Fontana of the Italian Gladiators, who makes her Short Track World Tour debut after missing last week. Italy’s most successful Olympian has done it all in the sport, and this season is combining both Short Track and Speed Skating.  

It’ll be fascinating to see if she can keep making podiums in the build up to what could be her fifth Olympic Winter Games.  

Add in the ever improving Corinne Stoddard of the USA Eagles and it once again promises to be a weekend of too-close-to-call finishes and wild final laps.  

It should be fun in the relay too: while the Dutch Lions line up as favorites, such tight racing often leads to crashes: last weekend such a scenario allowed Italy to sneak through for gold.  

Dandjinou fever to continue?    

William Dandjinou of the Canadian Ice Maples has one of the most inspiring stories in Short Track. He made his debut on the tour as a teen in 2019/20, but in 2021/22, the rookie scored a single ranking point (to finish 102nd in the 1500m overall).  

In 2022/23 he was ranked just 33rd, the sixth best racer on his national team, and unsure whether he could jump up to the level of teammates like Steven Dubois and Jordan Pierre-Gilles. 

Last season blew those doubts out of the water. Dandjinou won three World Cup golds, all in the 1500m, to lead the standings in that distance, and was then crowned 1000m World Champion.  

His performances in Montreal last weekend, however, took things up another notch. Dandjinou swept to gold in both the 1500m and 500m (his first major podium in the sprint), led his men’s relay team to victory and – at times – seemed in a class of his own. 

As Liu Shaoang of the Chinese Loongs, himself no stranger to greatness, commented: “what he is doing out there on the ice at the moment is crazy.”  

Dandjinou has turned his 190m height – considered by many a disadvantage in the tight-space-seeking world of Short Track – into an asset, using a low tuck when needed but also generating remarkable speed.  

Many of the fans are already wearing Dandjinou merchandise, and are billing him as an Olympic star in waiting.  

Short Track is all about consistency, however, and it remains to be seen whether this was one remarkable weekend on home territory, or a phenomenon that can be replicated across the globe this season. 

Park Ji Won, winner of the last two ISU Crystal Globes, will certainly hope the attention can be turned back to the Korean White Tigers. He was a steady presence at the inaugural World Tour event, but will want to return to his explosive heights again for round two.  

It was in fact Jens van ‘t Wout of the Dutch Lions who looked like Dandjinou’s closest contender in week one. Born in the first week of October 2001, just like the Canadian, he is improving season on season, and showed great tactical savvy and a brilliant burst of speed to win the 1000m last weekend.  

Pietro Sighel is tied with ‘t Wout in second place of the Crystal Globe standings, thanks to consistent skating across the distances, while also looking as sharp as ever are the diminutive rocket Steven Dubois of the Canadian Ice Maples, and Lin Xiaojun of the Chinese Loongs. 

Superstar brothers Liu Shaoang and Liu Shaolin also of the Chinese Loongs, has a quiet start to the World Tour, but the talented combination can only improve this weekend. 

They showed as much with great skates in the men’s 5000m Relay, getting silver behind Canada – and expect those two nations, plus the Korean White Tigers, to duke it out in the team event all season long.  

Find out Where to Watch the action.

Women’s ISU Crystal Globe Standings, after event one  

1.    Kristen Santos-Griswold, USA Eagles                              220 

=2.  Xandra Velzeboer Dutch Lions                                          200

=2.  Hanne Desmet, Belgian Ice Bears                                    200

4.    Choi Min Jeong, Korean White Tigers                               174

5.   Kim Gilli, Korean White Tigers                                            162

Men’s ISU Crystal Globe Standings after event one 

1.    William Dandjinou, Canadian Ice Maples                         220

=2.  Jens van t’Wout, Dutch Lions                                             156

=2.  Pietro Sighel, Italian Gladiators                                          156

4.   Steven Dubois, Canadian Ice Maples                                 150

5.   Park Ji Won, Korean White Tigers                                       138

ISU Team Crystal Globe Standings, after event one 

1. Canadian Ice Maples                                                        1434
2. Korean White Tigers                                                         1324
3. Dutch Lions                                                                      1217
4. Italian Gladiators                                                               963
5. Chinese Loongs                                                                 885

Find out more about the ISU Crystal Globe via the fact sheet.