A brilliant Canadian skater called Courtney, China and Korea battling it out for medals – and new challengers emerging from Eastern Europe…

It’s a sentence that could be applied to the senior ISU World Tour, but the ISU Short Track Junior World Cup all saw these things this weekend, too.

The second leg of the Junior season (they next contest the ISU Junior World Championship in Salt Lake City (USA) in January) took place at the Alau Ice Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan this weekend with a number of new names alerting the globe to their talents.

China emerged from the weekend with the best record, but racers from Korea, Canada, Japan and the home nation itself could also be delighted with excellent performances.

Korea’s Minji Kim leads way in women’s racing 

The senior Republic of Korea Short Track squad is one of the hardest teams anywhere on earth to break into – but Kim Minji looks ready. 

She showed immense promise at Junior level last winter, and has stepped up another notch this time around. 

Kim has the full package of speed, technical ability and race smarts, and she can operate well across the distances.  

Minji Kim (KOR) went one better than last weekend, winning two golds as she showed her class in the 1500m and 1000m. © ISU

In the 1500m here, she showed her class, once again conserving energy well and striking at the right time to snatch gold – almost a carbon copy of her victory in this distance last weekend.

Oh Songmi is another Korean with vast promise, and is often hard to separate from Kim. Oh won the 1000m here last weekend, but was beaten to the line by her teammate in this week’s 1500m. 

16-year-old Kang Minji made it a Korean 1-2-3 by grabbing bronze. A silver medal winner at the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games, she’s another one to watch.

Courtney Sarault of the Canada Ice Maples is currently on fire, leading the standings in the senior ISU Short Track World Tour – and her namesake Courtney Charlong shares many qualities with her compatriot.

Strong and savvy, the New Brunswick racer dominated at the Junior national selection events in Canada, winning twice across all three distances. Here she made her mark at international level, taking her first win with a bustling performance in the 500m (1).

Courtney Charlong (CAN) shares a name with compatriot and senior World Tour leader Sarault, as well as her win to win as she took 500m(1) gold. © ISU

Poland’s Kornelia Wozniak continued her fine streak by scooping silver, with Japan’s Ayano Sekiguchi third. Sekiguchi made some podiums last term, too, and is a key part of a rapidly improving Japanese squad.

On day two, in the second 500m race, Wozniak showed her consistency. Poland has a decent tradition of women’s sprinters, and Wozniak was lightning quick here to pick up her third gold at this level.

Kornelia Wozniak (POL, leading) took silver in the first 500m of the weekend and upgraded to gold with a lightning quick second sprint. © ISU

Lin Jingyi of China was second, while Luca Haltrich came third in a real breakthrough performance for the Hungarian. 

But it was Kim Minji who would have the final word in the women’s racing: she triumphed in the 1000m, again ahead of Oh – reversing last weekend’s result – while Charlong capped a great weekend by taking bronze.

China strike back in men’s event 

Republic of Korea have had better Junior results than their traditional Asian Short Track rivals, Republic of China, over recent years – but the tables were turned in Kazakhstan. 

In the men’s 1500m, China’s Wang Tianyou, who had won silver last weekend, secured his first win at this level with an impeccable performance. Wang, 17, had the power and smarts to get ahead of Tymeo Libeau of France, who will be pleased with his first podium in Junior skating. 

Wang Tianyou (CHN) secured his first win in the Junior World Cup with a powerful performance in the 1500m. © ISU

Fuchigami Yuta Japan also secured his debut podium, finishing third with a tidy skate.

Zhang Xinzhe is another Chinese racer with serious ability. He already has decent pedigree – he has competed at senior level, and won 1000m gold at the Gangwon 2024 YOG.

In Astana, he showed raw power to take the Men’s 500m (2), beating off competition from Park Seojun Korea, who was second, and Joo Jaehee of Korea, third. 

Joo is another racer with a bright future, having also bagged a gold medal at Gangwon 2024. 

And in the Men’s 1000m, Li Yuheng took China’s third gold of the weekend. He had delivered a consummate performance in the same distance last week, and won again here with his excellent technique and race strategy.

Li Yuheng (CHN) won his second gold of the Short Track Junior World Cup season with another consummate performance in the 1000m. © ISU

Lee Yoonseok of Korea, 17, was second – his debut podium at this level – while Wang of China took bronze to add to his burgeoning reputation and medal collection. 

Japan is often bested by Korea and China in Short Track, but the third-best Asian nation got their moment of glory here, too. 

Sasaki Taiga looks like a real prospect. He was second in the 1000m last weekend, but in the men’s 500m (1) here, he blasted to victory. Sasaki has athleticism and composure; he got just ahead of Lee Jongun of Korea to hit the line first. Park Seojun of Korea was third. 

Sasaki Taiga (JPN) blasted to victory in the first men's 500m, adding gold to last week's 1000m silver and marking him out as a real prospect. © ISU

The Mixed relay summoned the biggest cheer of the weekend, however. Kazakhstan won it, with Bogdan Vekhov and Polina Omelchuk, who were among the individual medals last weekend, particularly notable. Korea were second and China third.