The 24-year-old Ferencvaros rider became the first rider on his weakest track, with a World Cup silver medal so far, as of 2016, with a very confident performance.
Two-time Olympic champion Liu Shawang, who has won all seven races in the Canadian city so far, took the World Cup gold for the third time in his career after not finding a winner in the 500m and overall last year.
Liu Shuang advanced his semi-final race as easily as Friday’s qualifier. He skated in fifth at a very comfortable pace and climbed to third without having to overtake because one of his competitors stumbled and another stumbled. From there, he had already verified his greater speed and knowledge, so he easily took the lead with two maneuvers.
At the start of Monday’s final, he was in the center of the field, and Italian Luca Spechenhauser slipped to fourth, firmly holding on to the lead. When he changed his pace, no one had an answer: Liu Chuang skated everyone on one lap, winning with amazing confidence on his weakest number, making him European champion in 2020.
Of the two Hungarian youths eliminated in qualifying, Peter Yazapaty was 24th and Pence Nogrady 28th.
Petra Gaspate was in her third semi-finalist, in which she won a clever tactical race after Belgium knocked two opponents off the lead. The Szeged rider, who was skating at the end of the field, noticed this and moved to a higher speed after the fall, so he got ahead of his three competitors. South Korea’s Sim Suk Hit and Dutchman Xandra Vilzibor qualified for the eight finals.
The Hungarian athlete who won the Olympic bronze medal with the mixed relay was the last to advance in the final, but this time he could not advance even when there was a change of pace in the final third of the race, as a result of which he finished in eighth place. South Korea’s Joy Min-jung, the two-time five-episode distance champ, took the lead with a huge advantage, managing to pull away from everyone else in the final laps. The 23-year-old Choi won the World Cup gold for the thirteenth time, winning for the third time in a row. Another Hungarian competitor, Zofia Konya, came in 30th place, to bid farewell to Friday’s qualifiers.
After 1500, Liu Shuang also won the 500-meter race, thus defending his title in the shortest possible time. 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.
consequences:
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
(Cover Photo: Andre Pechet/MTI/EPA)
