The 44th ISU Short Track World Championships for 2019 are getting ready at the Arena Armeec in Sofia (BUL), with Korea’s domination of the sport on the line once again.
The Korean juggernaut has won the most medals at 16 of the last 17 World Championships, including 14 in a row from 2002-15 and in 2017 and 2018; only Canada managed more medals once, in 2016.
The form chart from this season’s World Cup shows the Koreans to be favored once again in the men’s individual events, but sterling European opposition on the women’s events. The top World Cup finishers, plus the defending World (2018) and Olympic (2018) champs:
Men
500 m:
1. 31,439 Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR) ~ 2 wins, one silver
2. 30,000 Dajing Wu (CHN) ~ 3 wins in three races
3. 26,434 Sam Girard (CAN) ~ 1 win, three fourths
Defending World Champion: Dae-heon Hwang (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Dajing Wu (CHN)
1,000 m:
1. 37,250 Ji-Won Park (KOR) ~ 1 win, two silvers, one bronze
2. 24,459 Kyung-Hwan Hong (KOR) ~ 1 win, one bronze
3. 23,277 Shaoang Liu (HUN) ~ 2 wins
Defending World Champion: Charles Hamelin (CAN)
2018 Olympic Champion: Samuel Girard (CAN)
1,500 m:
1. 38,000 Gun Woo Kim (KOR) ~ 3 wins, one silver in four races
2. 23,040 Steven Dubois (CAN) ~ 2 bronzes, two fourths
3. 22,515 June-Seo Lee (KOR) ~ 2 silvers, one bronze
Defending World Champion: Charles Hamelin (CAN)
2018 Olympic Champion: Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR)
3,000 m Superfinal (not on the World Cup circuit):
Defending World Champion: Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN)
Women
500 m:
1. 40,800 Natalia Maliszewska (POL) ~ 2 wins, one silver, two bronze
2. 39,216 Martina Valcepina (ITA) ~ 3 wins to end the season
3. 35,216 Lara van Ruijven (NED) ~ 1 win, two silvers
Defending World Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Arianna Fontana (ITA)
1,000 m:
1. 40,000 Suzanne Schulting (NED) ~ 4 wins in four races
2. 29,695 Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS) ~ 1 win, two silvers
3. 26,640 Alyson Charles (CAN) ~ 1 win, one bronze
Defending World Champion: Suk-Hee Shim (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Suzanne Schulting (NED)
1,500 m:
1. 34,400 Suzanne Schulting (NED) ~ 2 wins, one silver, one bronze
2. 29,277 Ji-Yoo Kim (KOR) ~ 1 win, two silvers
3. 28.192 Min-Jeong Choi (KOR) ~ 2 wins, to fifths
Defending World Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)
3,000 m Superfinal (not on the World Cup circuit):
Defending World Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)
In addition to the individual events, a 3,000 m relay for women and 5,000 m relay for men will be held; a 2,000 m Mixed Relay will also be contested.
NBCSN has delayed coverage of the Short Track Worlds, on Monday morning at 1 a.m. Eastern time. Look for results here.
