Chinese skaters grab 2 gold medals in Shanghai
Print Edition
CHINESE skaters won both the medals event at the inaugural ISU Shanghai Trophy yesterday at Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, where local fans also got a good look at synchronized skating.
In the two short-track speedskating finals, Chinese skater Lin Yue won the women’s 1,500-meter gold medal, clocking 2 minutes and 24.81 seconds. It was an almost all-Chinese final with five of the six finalists being Chinese.
Guo Yihan took the silver while Fan Kexin settled for bronze.
The men’s 1,500m crown went to China’s Han Tianyu (2 minutes and 26.27 seconds), followed by South Korea’s Lim Yongjin and Jeanne Vincent of France.
Speed skating events usually require an ice thickness of 3.5 centimeters, while figure skating events need a “softer” 5cm surface.
“As we host both the events on the same rink, we had to find a compromise,” said Yan Jiadong, director of the Shanghai Skating Association. “Since synchronized skating doesn’t involve a lot of jumping like in the singles or in the pairs, we made the rink between 3.5cm and 4cm thick to suit both the events (synchronized and speed skating).”
The three-day event will also stage synchronized skating. It is also the first time that the International Skating Union has named a tournament after a host city.
Synchronized skating is a new item for Shanghai audience but some skating clubs in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have been practising it for a while.
Six teams are taking part in the synchronized competition in Shanghai. After yesterday’s short program, Russia’s “Paradise” team was on top of the standings with 71.38 points, followed by team “Haydenettes” from the US (66.86) and Sweden’s “Team Surprise” (65.27).
The Chinese junior synchronized skating team did not take part in the competition, but performed at the opening ceremony last night. The team mainly consist of student skaters from Beijing with ages ranging from 13 to 17 years.
“This is the first time I watched synchronized skating,” a spectator Zhou Xuerui told Shanghai Daily. “Though the skaters didn’t do many difficult routines like what we see in the singles or in the pairs, group skating has its own charm. China should be a powerhouse too after some training, since we are usually good at such sports that emphasize on uniformity.”
The free program of synchronized skating will be held today together with the finals of men’s and women’s 500m.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
