INSIDE• ISU NEWS• SEASON REVIEW • OLYMPIC REVIEW• CONGRESS PREVIEW • RESULTS

INTERNATIONAL SKATING UNION OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER NO 41 MAY 2010

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ISU World is the official newsletter of the International Skating UnionPublished and produced by ISU, Chemin de Primerose 2, 1007 Lausanne, SwitzerlandTelephone: +41 21 612 66 66. Facsimile: +41 21 612 66 77. Editorial board: Fredi Schmid, Devra Pitt Getaz, Rodney Lajoie. Designed by www.moserdesign.ch.Front cover photograph: Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) by Yuri Kadabnov ©Getty Images/AFPPhotography: ©Getty Images/AFP, Gary Mortimore, Yuri Kadabnov, Saeed Khan, Toshifumi Kitamura, Robyn Beck

The ISU is planning to possibly introduce a statistical system based on event results, taking into account that every sea-son fifty major international events are organized.

We are well aware that the leading Countries are not so many and we are therefore conscious that they occupy the top of the list. But there are also other participating Members from different Countries which deserve to know how they are ranked.

Having two branches which include five different sport disciplines, namely Figure Skating, Ice Dance, Synchronized

Skating, Speed Skating and Short Track, it would actually be possible to create a kind of ladder to assign points to athletes and teams placed within the best fifteen, in any case part of a rank to be decided.

The main reason for this proposal is that the ISU continues to ask National Member Associations to develop the ice skating activity. In sport the podium certainly reflects the highest standard, but also other contenders form the competition and it would be therefore consistent to recognize their achievements.

Personally I believe that a combined number of points related to placement obtained in the two ISU branches (Figure Skating and Speed Skating) should probably reflect the merit of the Country Member/s, but if the statistic is formed in separate lists, then it would be possible to have a precise vision of the contribution of each branch.

But why would such statistics be of high importance? One of the best expressions in the Olympic Movement regarding sport relates to the fact that sport means unity and universality.

I firmly believe that if we are able to show how the majority of Countries work and what they obtain or, better said, what they offer to the world, this would constitute the best motivation for each Country to persevere and improve since even not being at the very top it is always possible to prove the presence in the invaluable scenario of sport, which will also result as an expression of gratitude to all those involved with the Olympic Movement.

To achieve such an important goal, it is required first of all to form the list of the Interna-tional Competitions counting to assign points. This plan, necessary for the specific purpose mentioned above, could also result in creating a selection of International Competitions that would remain.This means that the ISU can go toward a stable group of events. To be part of that group would also be beneficial to the organizers and all those involved.

Another possible goal would be to leave a good and recognized basis for the evaluation of the World Standings for each of the two ISU branches.

Ottavio CinquantaPresident, International Skating Union

ISU COUNCILThe ISU Council met in Vancouver (CAN) on the occasion of the 2010 Olympic Win-ter Games and on March 28-29, 2010 in Torino (ITA) immediately following the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2010. Among other decisions the Council agreed to grant full Figure Skating Membership to the Ice Skating Association of Ireland. The Council also extended the provisional ISU Figure Skating membership of the Singapore Skating Association by one year until March 2011. Two changes in the 2011 Provisional Allotments, one for the ISU European Speed Skating Championships 2011 which will be held in Collalbo, Italy instead of in Innsbruck, Austria and the other for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011 which will remain in Japan yet will take place in Tokyo and not Nagano. See Communication 1608 for more details.

ISU SPORTS DIRECTORATEIn the branches of Figure Skating and Speed Skating the Sport Directors worked exten-sively at the Olympic Winter Games 2010 in Vancouver. Further two successful ISU Development Seminars have been conducted under the guidance of the Chair of the Sports Directorate. A Pair seminar (including a Judges course) was held in Berlin and an Ice Dance seminar in Oberstdorf. Internationally renowned coaches instructed skaters of Novice and Junior levels and their coaches from more than 12 different ISU Members at each seminar. In the Speed Skating branch the focus has been on planning the Youth Olympic Winter Games (YOG) and acting as liaison with the YOG Organizing Committee. New studies for the promotion and presenta-tion of Short Track events are also underway. Meanwhile preparations ahead of the 2010 ISU Congress are ongoing for all disciplines.

ISU TECHNICAL COMMITTEESAhead of the 2010 Congress the Technical Committees addressed this season’s issues including proposed changes to the Special Regulations and Technical Rules and analysis of amendments proposed by ISU Members. Work was also carried out on the Report on the Four Year Plan and preparation of the 2010-2014 Four Year Plan

Single & Pair SkatingThe Committee Members served as Refe-rees and Technical Controllers at the Four Continents, World Junior and World Cham-pionships as well as in the Olympic Winter Games 2010. Meeting on the occasion of the

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ISU NEWSOlympic Winter Games 2010, the Committee focused on the 2010/2011 season with the preparation of the new Communication with Scale of Value (SOV), Levels and Guidelines for positive Grade of Execution (GOE) and GOE reductions for the upcoming season. Other activities in this second half of the season included the studying of the Reports of Referees and Technical Controllers from ISU Events and together with the Officials Assessment Commission (OAC) the evalua-tion of judging at these Events. In April two Committee Members served as Moderators of ISU Judges Seminars in Berlin, Germany (Pair Skating) and Istanbul, Turkey

Ice DanceA large number of coaches, skaters, judges and media representatives met with the Ice Dance Technical Committee (IDTC) for the annual Coaches, Skaters and Judges meeting, held on the occasion of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2010 in Torino (ITA). A Communication with the requirements for Free Dance for the season 2010/11 has been published and will be followed by a second Communication, after the June Congress, containing rule changes which introduce a new format for Ice Dance for the future. Plans are underway to develop a new video for the Congress to demonstrate this format. The

Committee met during the Olympic Winter Games and during the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Torino. Finally, the annual Novice Ice Dance Seminar was held in Oberstdorf with great success, attended by 23 couples from 12 Members and 29 Ice Dance coaches from 13 Members.

Synchronized SkatingThis year’s Synchronized Skating ISU Judges’ Examination 2010 was held in Gothenburg (SWE) in March. Two Judges from Austria and Switzerland took the examination, both of whom successfully passed.

Official Trial Judging was conducted by the ISU SySTC in conjunction with the French Cup 2010 in Rouen, France in February with 8 par-ticipating Judges from 5 Members (ITA, FRA, RUS, SWE, USA).Within the Frankfurt Global Seminar, to be held in Frankfurt on July 11 – 17, 2010 a seminar in Synchronized Skating is being included which is open to International and ISU Technical Specialists and Technical Controllers for Synchronized Skating.

Speed SkatingThe Committee held meetings on the occasion of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the World Allround Championships in Heerenveen. In addition to monitoring and

evaluation of OWG and ISU Event competi-tions, preparations for the 2010 ISU Congress have been the main task of the Committee during the season. The annual season review meeting with coaches and team leaders was held on the occasion of the Essent ISU World Cup finals in Heerenveen. The meeting in-cluded presentations and discussions of pro-posals for rule changes submitted for the ISU Congress, and of the draft schedule for the Speed Skating World Cup season 2010/2011. The Committee was represented at the ISU Junior World Cup final in Berlin. The success of this newly created series continues, and together with the ISU Speed Skating Sports Director the Committee is reviewing further format improvement options.

Short TrackThe Technical Committee reported a success-ful Olympic season which concluded with two ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Cham-pionships with events taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria and Bormio, Italy in March. The 2009/10 season sees yet again an increasing number of athlete and Member participation in all events. The Committee met on two occasions during this later half of the season; in Vancouver in February and Sofia in March. In particular the Committee evaluated racing rules ahead of the June Congress, in view of the drastic rise in popularity of the sport as a whole , as well as the high speeds which Short Track athletes now reach.

MR. JOHN HURDISMr. John Hurdis died in Mississauga, Ontario, in Canada on April 21, 2010, at the age of 82. At the time of his passing he was ISU Hono-rary Member, a role to which he was elected at the 44th Ordinary ISU Congress held in Davos, Switzerland, in 1992.Mr. John Hurdis began his involvement in Speed Skating in 1943 as a competitive skater. He went on to take up a long and distinguished career as an official in Great Britain and Canada. Mr. John Hurdis was a member of the ISU Short Track Speed Skating Technical Committee from 1977-1980 and was elected Chairman of the Committee from 1980-84. Mr. Hurdis was also Honorary Presi-dent of the Canadian Amateur Speed Skating Association (CASSA). The ISU pays tribute to Mr. Hurdis’s devoted service to the ISU.

ISU WEBSITE: WWW.ISU.ORGLooking forward to OWG Sochi 2014 at the closing ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games

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OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATINGHistoric medal wins characterised the figure skating competition at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. China celebrated its first Olympic Gold medal in Figure Skating when Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao took the title in the Pairs event. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir of Canada brought North America its first Ice Dance Gold, Yu-Na Kim became the first Korean figure skater to

claim a medal at the Olympic Winter Games and Japan won its first medal in Men’s figure skating

PairsThe gold and silver medals went to China with Shen/Zhao and Qing Pang/Jian Tong, while the two-time World Champions Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER) settled for the bronze. Shen/Zhao led after the Short Program with a strong performance. In the free skating to “Adagio” the Chinese only made one error on the Axel lasso lift that was

Yu-Na Kim (KOR)

aborted prematurely and won with a score of 216.57 points. The husband-and-wife team, veterans at the age of 31 and 36, finally had realized their dream of Olympic gold. Pang/Tong stood in fourth place following the Short Program. The couple had nothing to lose and skated their hearts out in the free skating, producing the best performance of the night to move up to second with a career-best score of 213.31. Everything was powerful and spot on. Savchenko/Szolkowy were a close second with a flawless Short. The two-time World Champions slipped to third after each of them made an error on a jump in the Free Skating. They scored 210.60 points and earn the first Olympic figure skating medal for Germany since 1998.Russian Pairs failed to reach the Olympic podium for the first time since 1960 - since when they had claimed gold at each Olympic Winter Games. The top-ranked Russian team in Vancouver were Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov. They placed third in the Short Program with a clean program, but dropped to fourth as they made several errors in the Free Skating. The 2006 Olympic silver medallists Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang completed the success of the Chinese Pairs by finishing fifth.

Men2009 World Champion Evan Lysacek (USA) upset the Russian Figure Skating star, 2006 Olympic Champion Evgeni Plushenko. Daisuke Takahashi captured the bronze, Japan’s first Olympic medal in Men’s singles.Lysacek edged out Plushenko by just 1.31 points in what was a close decision. Lysacek did not risk a quad, but delivered two clean programs with just one wobble on a triple Axel in the Free Skating. Plushenko nailed the quadruple-triple toeloop combination in both programs, won the Short, but lost the Free to Lysacek after shaky landings on a triple Axel and a triple Lutz. Lysacek (USA) earned 257.67 points, while Plushenko got 256.36.Plushenko, who returned to the sport last fall after retiring in 2006, is now one of the most decorated Man in Olympic Figure Skating. He collected his third Olympic medal in his third Games after silver in 2002 and gold in 2006. No other man has three Olympic medals, and only one, Gillis Grafstrom (SWE), claimed four, from 1920 to 1932.Takahashi started strongly with an exciting and clean Short Program. He held on to the bronze medal in spite of a fall on an attempted quadruple toeloop in the Free Skating, but made no other major errors. With a score of 247.23, he stayed ahead of 2006 Olympic Silver medallist Stéphane Lambiel (SUI) by less than one point. Lambiel came

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FIGURE SKATINGfourth in his third appearance at the Olympic Winter Games. World silver medallist Patrick Chan (CAN) placed fifth on his Olympic debut.

Ice DanceVirtue/Moir claimed not only the first Olympic Ice Dance Gold for Canada, but they became the first North American Ice Dance team to take gold since the discipline was included in the Olympic Winter Games in 1976. Up until now, Russian couples had taken seven out of nine gold medals. The other two went to Great Britain in 1984 and to France in 2002.Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) earned the silver and 2009 World Champions Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin (RUS) danced to the bronze medal.Virtue/Moir ranked second in the Tango Romantica Compulsory Dance but then overtook Domnina/Shabalin with a sultry Flamenco in the Original Dance and gave a mesmerising Free Dance to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. They accumulated a total score of 221.57 points.Davis/White were third in the Compulsory Dance and then moved up one spot with an exotic Indian Dance and won the silver medal with a powerful performance to ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Their total score added up to 215.74 points. Domnina/Shabalin won the first segment of the competition with an excellent Tango Romantica. They lost ground with a rather cautious performance of their ‘Aboriginal Dance’. In spite of a strong free dance the 2009 World Champions could not catch up and remained in third place with 207.64 points. 2006 Olympic silver medallists Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) turned in three solid programs, but finished fourth this time around. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali (ITA) came fifth with a characteristic Tarantella OD and their emotional free dance titled “The Immigrants”, set to music from “The Godfather” by Nino Rota. 2008 World Champions Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA) came back after not competing for 14 months following Delobel’s shoulder injury and pregnancy and finished sixth in their third and final Olympic Winter Games.

Ladies2009 World Champion Yu-Na Kim (KOR) continued her dominance in Ladies’ figure skating. The 19-year-old earned the gold, a historic first Olympic figure skating medal for the Republic of Korea, with flawless, elegant performances and a new record total score of 228.56 points. Kim hit all her jumps effortlessly, including the difficult triple Lutz-

her courageous performances. The last time that there was no US woman on the Olympic podium was in 1964, but Mirai Nagasu, 16, finished fourth on her Olympic debut with two strong programs. Miki Ando (JPN), the 2007 World Champion, placed fifth. The top-ranked European skater was Laura Lepistö (FIN) in sixth place.

SEASON REVIEWThe European Championships in Tallinn (EST) in January made history as Estonia had never hosted an ISU Figure Skating Championships before. All four reigning

triple toeloop combination in both programs. Mao Asada (JPN) skated to the silver medal and landed three triple Axels - one in the Short Program and two in the Free Skating. She scored 205.50 points. Asada currently is the only woman to include the triple Axel in her routines. Joannie Rochette (CAN) overcame a family tragedy to win the bronze, the first Olympic figure skating medal for a Canadian woman since Elizabeth Manley’s silver from 1988. Rochette’s mother died suddenly from a heart attack two days before the competition after arriving in Vancouver. The 2009 World silver medallist moved millions to tears with

Evan Lysacek (USA)

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champions had come back to defend their titles, but there were new champions in all disciplines. Carolina Kostner (ITA) recaptured the title that Laura Lepistö (FIN) had taken from her in 2009. Lepistö took silver this time and now has a complete set of medals from Europeans. The bronze medal went to Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO), who became the first skater from Georgia to place on the podium at an ISU Figure Skating Championships. Kiira Korpi (FIN) was less than one point behind Gedevanishvili in fourth and Sarah Meier (SUI) finished fifth.

Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov (RUS) upset three-time European Champions Aliona Savchenko/ Robin Szolkowy (GER) in what was a close competition. The Russians scored 213.15 points while the Germans had 211.71 points. Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov (RUS) earned the bronze medal like they had last year. Tatiana Volosozhar/Stanislav Morozov (UKR) were fourth for the third time in a row ahead of Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov (RUS), who debuted at the event.

2006 Olympic Champion Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) came out of retirement to claim his sixth European crown. He beat two-time World Champion Stéphane Lambiel (SUI), who had sat out one season, and defending European Champion Brian Joubert (FRA). Plushenko and Joubert have an impressive record at the European Championships. Plushenko collected nine medals, all gold or silver, in as many appearances at the event. Joubert competes in the event since 2002 and has medalled each time. Michal Brezina (CZE) established himself as a new force on the scene by placing fourth. 2009 silver medallist Samuel Contesti (ITA) finished fifth this time.

In the Ice Dance competition, 2009 World Champions Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin (RUS) took their second European title. They had won in 2008, but withdrew in 2009 citing injury. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali (ITA) repeated as silver medallists, but were ranked first in Original and Free Dance. 2009 European Champions Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski (RUS) claimed the bronze medal. Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA) were ranked fourth like last year ahead of 2009 European bronze medallists Sinead Kerr/John Kerr.

The 12th edition of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships took place in Jeonju (KOR) at the end of January.

Mao Asada (JPN) re-emerged after a tough start to the season with a clear win over

team-mate Akiko Suzuki (JPN) and Caroline Zhang (USA). Asada earned her second title at the Four Continents and her third medal in as many appearances. Suzuki took her first ISU Championship medal and Zhang her first senior-level Championship medal. Two debutants Amanda Dobbs (USA) and Haruka Imai (JPN) came fourth and fifth.Two-time World Junior Champion Adam Rippon (USA) surged from 7th place in the Short Program to first in what was his ISU senior-level Championship debut. Silver medallist Tatsuki Machida (JPN) and bronze medallist Kevin Reynolds (CAN) both debuted at the Four Continents Championships as well. Brandon Mroz (USA) and Ryan Bradley (USA) completed a strong showing of the U.S. men in fourth and fifth place. Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) danced to their first ISU Championship title. They beat Allie Hann-McCurdy/Michael Coreno (CAN) and Madison Hubbell/Keiffer Hubbell (USA). All teams medalled for the first time at the Four Continent Championships. Xintong Huang/Xun Zheng (CHN) were ranked fourth ahead of 2009 World Junior Champions Madison Chock/Greg Zuerlein (USA).Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang (CHN) captured their second gold medal at the Four Continents. The couple has competed in seven Four Continents Championships and stood on the podium each time. Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) took the silver medal and the bronze went to Meagan Duhamel/Craig Buntin (CAN). Caitlin Yankowskas/John Coughlin (USA) placed fourth while Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran (JPN) were ranked fifth in their debut.

The 100th edition of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Torino (ITA) was a very successful event with 207 skaters from 53 ISU members participating. The ISU World Championships returned to Italy for the first time in 47 years. Worlds took place in Italy only twice so far, in Milan in 1951 and in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1963. The twelve medals went to ten ISU members. Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) caped off a great season by winning their second World title since 2006. Two-time and defending World Champions Savchenko/Szolkowy this time earned the silver medal. Like last year, Kavaguti/Smirnov captured the bronze medal. Mukhortova/Trankov came fourth ahead of Zhang/Zhang. Asada crowned her season with her second World title. She had won in 2008, but was fourth in 2009. 2009 World Champion Yu-Na Kim (KOR) rallied back from a faulty Short Program to take the silver medal. She has

competed at World Championships since 2007 and medalled each time. Lepistö became the first Finnish single skater to claim a World medal. She edged out Miki Ando (JPN) by less than one point. Cynthia Phaneuf (CAN) finished fifth. Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) made history again by winning the first World title for a Japanese male skater. He triumphed over Patrick Chan (CAN) and Joubert (FRA), who were ranked second and third like they were in 2009. For Joubert, it was his sixth World Championship medal. Brezina ended a successful year by finishing fourth and Jeremy Abbott (USA) came fifth. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) followed up their win at the Olympic Games with their first World title ahead of Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA), who earned their first World Championship medal. To the delight of the home crowd, Faiella/Scali danced to the bronze, which was also their first medal at the ISU World Championships. Pechalat/Bourzat finished fourth followed by Kerr/Kerr.

The ISU awarded the ISU World Standing Bonus for the 2009/2010 season to the three skaters/couples having earned the most World Standing points during the season. Kim earned the World standing bonus of 45,000 US$. Suzuki came in second (27,000 US $) like last year and Ando was third in this season’s bonus race (18,000 US$). Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek pocketed the top prize in the Men’s category. Takahashi was second ahead of Brezina. Olympic Champions Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao (CHN) took the bonus for the Pairs (67,500 US$) ahead of Savchenko/Szolkowy (40,500 US$) while Pang/Tong were third (27,000 US$). Davis/White picked up the top prize in the Ice Dance category. Virtue/Moir came in second ahead of Kerr/Kerr.

The Junior season concluded with the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in The Hague (NED). Junior Worlds was once again a showcase for the emerging talent from all over the world. 209 skaters from 53 ISU members were entered for the event.

Kanako Murakami (JPN) confirmed her strong showing on the Junior Grand Prix to win the Ladies title. Newcomer Agnes Zawadzki (USA), who competed in her first international event, came out of nowhere to grab the silver. Polina Agafonova (RUS), who like Murakami and Zawadzki debuted at Junior Worlds, claimed the bronze. Polina Shelepen and Anna Ovcharova completed a good result for Russia in fourth and fifth.

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FIGURE SKATING

Xue Shen/ Hongbo Zhao (CHN)

Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) followed up on his win in the Junior Final and skated to the gold. Nan Song (CHN) became the first Chinese man to earn a silver medal at Junior Worlds and Artur Gachinski (RUS) captured the bronze in his debut at the event. Keegan Messing (USA) and Grant Hochstein (USA) were fourth and fifth. Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN) continued their dominance among the Junior Pairs by clearly winning the title in what was their first international competitive season. Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran (JPN) claimed the silver medal, only the second medal for Japan in Pairs at an ISU Championship. Nine years ago, Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Markuntsov (JPN) were silver medallists as well. Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) collected the bronze medal. Tatiana Novik/Mikhail Kuznetsov (RUS) and Britney Simpson/Nathan Miller (USA) followed in fourth and fifth place. In the Ice Dance event, Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) led the field from the first step of the Compulsory Dance to take the title. Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam (CAN), who compete in their first season as a team, earned the silver medal. ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Ksenia Monko/Kirill Khaliavin (RUS) danced to the bronze medal. All three teams debuted at Junior Worlds. 2009 World Junior silver medallists Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) were just 0.46 points behind in fourth place, and Lorenza Alessandrini/Simone Vaturi (ITA) were also less than one point behind in fifth.

SYNCHRONIZED SKATINGThe ISU Championships of the 2009/2010 season concluded with ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in April in Colorado Springs (USA). 23 teams from 18 countries competed in the 11th edition of the World Synchronized Skating Championships. Team Finland 1 (Rockettes) returned to the top of the podium after sitting out the 2009 World Championships. The 2008 World Champions had not qualified last year as a result of the tough competition inside Finland, but dominated from the beginning in Colorado Springs. Team Finland 2 (Marigold Ice Unity), the three-time World Champions, surged from fifth place in the Short Program to earn the silver medal. Team USA 1 (Haydenettes) claimed the bronze, the second medal for an U.S. Synchronized team. The defending World Champions Team Canada 1 (Nexxice) finished fifth this time, behind their teammates from Canada 2 (Black Ice).

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mifinals of the 1000m won the 1500. Together with Linlin Sun and Hui Zhang they won the Relay as well in a world record time.

The USA had 6 medals; thus doubling the amount of medals they had in the previous Olympics. Three of the medals went to Apolo Anton Ohno, who besides being the most decorated short-track skater in the Olympic Games, now is the American winter Olympian with the most (8) Olympic medals in his career. He won silver in the 1500m and bronze in the 1000. The third medal that he won was together with J.R. Celski, Jordan Malone and Travis Jayner: bronze in the 5000m Relay. J.R. Celski also won a bronze medal in the 1500m after two Korean skaters fell when heading for silver and bronze. The other two American me-dals came into the hands of Katherine Reutter who had silver in the 1000m and bronze in the Ladies Relay, which she shared with Allison Baver, Alyson Dudek and Lana Gehring.

Host Canada won five medals. Marianne St-Gelais won the silver in the 500m and later

Olympic 3000m Relay Final Ladies

OLYMPIC SHORT TRACKOlympic Short Track event was high profile and exciting with 24 medals won in Short Track Speed Skating during the Vancouver Olympics.

Korea was in fine Short Track form and came through with the most medals. Jung-Su Lee won two gold medals in the 1000 and 1500m, there was silver for Si-Bak Sung in the 500m and for Ho-Suk Lee in the 1000m, and also for the 5000m Relay team with these three skaters and Yoon-Gy Kwak. In the ladies’ event, Eun-Byul Lee won silver in the 1500m and Hi-Seung Park won bronze both in the 1000 and 1500m. They were also very strong in the relay but made some mistakes because of which they were disqualified.

China won four medals and all of them were gold. China was the strongest in all the ladies’ events. Meng Wang won the 500 and 1000m, Yang Zhou, who set a world record in the se-

again a silver medal with her team in the 3000m Relay. The other skaters who won sil-ver there were Kalyna Roberge, Jessica Gregg and Tania Vicent. The Canadian men had to wait until the final day of the short track com-petition but then were rewarded with gold and bronze on the 500m. François-Louis Tremblay took bronze and Charles Hamelin won the gold. Shortly after that they won a second gold together with Charles’ brother François and Olivier Jean in the 5000m Relay.

Italy has an average of one medal per Games since 1994 and they got a bronze medal again, won by Arianna Fontana on the 500m ladies.

SEASON REVIEWThe first Short Track Championships of the season were the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships, held in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei on January 8-10. The world’s best junior aged Short Track Speed Skaters, representing 29 countries were in attendance for the 3-day event. The championships were dominated by the Korean skaters with the team earning seven of the eight overall classification podium places. In the ladies competition, it was a Korean podium sweep, as Jihyun Choi was crowned ladies World Junior Champion. Her teammates Mi-Yeon Lee and Jaewon Song were second and third respectively. On the men’s side, Korean Jinkyu Noh was crowned World Cham-pion. Canadian Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu was second, and Jeyeong Park of Korea was third.Korea won both the Ladies and Men’s Relay.

This year’s ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships, on January 22-24, was held in Dresden, Germany. The event was well attended with elite skaters from 23 European Members competing. For many of the skaters, it was their last opportunity to meet their country requirements for an Olympic berth. The ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships schedule had the athletes compete in the 500, 1000, 1500 meters distances, with the top points earners after three events, competing in a 3000m Super Final. The championships closed with the relay events. Katerina Novotna of the Czech Republic was crowned the ladies Eu-ropean Short Track Speed Skating Champion, while Italian skater Nicola Rodigari earned his second consecutive European Championship title. Novotna won the overall title by a mere two points, edging out the reigning European Champion Arianna Fontana of Italy. Third place overall went to British skater Elise Christie. On the men’s side, Rodigari was dominant, clinching the title before the last race of the

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weekend. Two French skaters joined him on the overall podium: Thibaut Fauconnet (second) and Maxime Chataignier (third). Germany won the Ladies Relay and Italy won the Men’s.

Almost a month after the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games came to a close, the ISU Short Track season resumed March 19 in Sofia, Bulgaria with the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2010. 145 athletes, representing 34 Members, participated at these championships, amongst which, skaters from Korea earned both the ladies and men title. Seung-Hi Park was crowned Lady World Short Track Speed Skating Champion, while Ho-Suk Lee won a second consecutive title as World Short Track Speed Skating Champion. Meng Wang (CHN) and Ha-Ri Cho (KOR) took respectively second and third position overall in the Ladies classification. Yoon-Gy Kwak (KOR) was second overall for the Men with Wenhao Liang (CHN) third.

The season concluded with the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Team Cham-pionships in Bormio, Italy at the end of March. Nine countries were represented; those that qualified for in both the ladies and men’s com-petition were: Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and Korea for both the ladies and men competition. China pulled out of the ladies event, and fielded only a men’s team. Hungary (ladies) and France (men) also had teams entered. The ladies finals on the last competition day were dominated by Korea, winning seven of the ten races, earning a total of 45 points. Canada finished second with 35 points, and Italy provided the local fans with a well deserved third place finish. On the men’s side, it was a Korea and Canada battle, with the outcome only determined in the final 5000m Relay event. This was a repeat of the 2009 World Team Championships. Korea (38 points) earned the title by the small margin of two points ahead of Canada (36 points); this was Korea’s third title in a row. Third place finish went to China (24 points).

SPEED SKATING

OLYMPIC SPEED SKATINGThe Speed Skating events at the Olympic Winter Games 2010 were resounding popular and competitive successes. An Olympic record time was set in the 5000m men, the first distance, where Sven Kramer (NED) cashed in on his leading roles over the past years. The main surprise was the second place (only 2.35 second behind Kramer) of a Korean skater who had not been on the long track podium

ever before, Seung-Hoon Lee. He won silver, ahead of Ivan Skobrev (RUS).The Korean team had a great Olympics. Seung-Hoon Lee’s silver was the prelude, Tae-Bum Mo and Sang-Hwa Lee won the men’s and ladies’ 500m, Mo also won silver on the 1000m, and finally not Kramer but Seung-Hoon Lee won the 10,000m. On this last distance the drama was that the fastest skater, Sven Kramer, made a mistake in the

Shani Davis (USA)

lane crossing and was disqualified. Skobrev’s second medal thus became silver, and Bob de Jong (NED), 2006 Champion and silver medal-list in 1998 added a bronze to his collection.The Dutch team overall had a good Olympics with bronze in the Team Pursuit. Also Mark Tuitert, who had won the World Cup on the 1500m in 2004 and 2005, but was not consi-dered among the favourites, won the 1500m for men impressively and Ireen Wüst did the

SPEED SKATING

Martina Sablikova (CZE)

10

same with her 1500m. The Dutch also won two medals in the ladies’ 1000m with silver for Annette Gerritsen and bronze for Laurine van Riessen.Shani Davis (USA) was consistent in winning the 1000m, but came second in 1500m behind Mark Tuitert. The USA also took silver in the Team Pursuit and bronze in the 1000m for Chad Hedrick. Host country Canada did not get close to the 8 medals they won in Turin, where Cindy Klassen then had won five medals. In Van-couver, the skaters gathered 5 in total. There was a gold medal in the 1000m for Christine Nesbitt, this year’s undisputed best skater on the distance. There was also gold for the men’s Pursuit team from Canada. Kristina Groves won bronze in the 3000m and silver in

the 1500m, and on the longest distance, as in the men’s event, the champion of 2006 took bronze: Clara Hughes. Martina Sáblíková was the first Czech to win an Olympic medal in Speed Skating. And she became the most decorated skater, with two gold medals in both the 3000 and 5000m, and a bronze in the 1500m. Both long distances young German Stephanie Beckert earned the silver. Another silver medal for Germany went to Jenny Wolf, who in spite of her reign in the past years did not manage to win gold in Vancouver, as she lost to Sang-Hwa Lee. Finally, Germany took gold in the ladies’ Team Pursuit.Beixing Wang won the only medal for China this time, bronze in the 500m ladies.In total a record amount of 11 countries

divided the medals, which is three more than in the last Olympics. Among them was the Czech Republic with three medals, and a surprise was Poland, who for the first time since 1960 won a medal: bronze in the ladies’ Team Pursuit with three ladies who were not able to reach an individual podium, but who knew how to work perfectly together. Japan won two medals in the men’s 500m with Nagashima and Kato, and another silver in the ladies’ Team Pursuit.Former champions who announced their reti-rement at the end of the season were Jeremy Wotherspoon, Chad Hedrick, Renate Groe-newold, Erben Wennemars and Carl Verheijen.

SEASON REVIEWIn this Olympic season, the World Cup circuit was spread over ‘only’ seven weekends. Three weekends in Europe in November, two wee-kends on the American continent in December, and all but the one in Hamar (NOR) were combined for sprint- and longer distances. In Hamar only the 1500m and longest distance were skated, the sprinters had their weekend ‘among themselves’ in Erfurt (GER), right after the Olympic Games and a week before everybody came to Dutch Heerenveen for the World Cup Final. In the ladies field, it seemed not much had changed since last season. Again, Jenny Wolf (GER) took the 500m Cup ahead of Margot Boer (NED), Christine Nesbitt (CAN) the 1000m, Kristina Groves (CAN) the 1500m and Martina Sáblíková won the long distance world cup. Behind them, there were some developments: Stephanie Beckert (GER) had her break-through with several wins and the second place overall in the long distance, be-coming the best German long distance skater. And on the 1000m, Margot Boer and Monique Angermüller climbed onto the podium, like Sábliková in the 1500m. For Jenny Wolf, it was the fifth year in a row she won the 500m. Bonny Blair won the 500m World Cup five times as well, but not in a row. The only winner who was different than last year was the Canadian ladies in the Team Pursuit, with Russia and Germany following a completely different podium.Most excitement was in the men’s 500m, where so many different winners followed each other. Last year’s winner Fengtong Yu had had a difficult season, opening up the field to challengers. Tucker Fredricks (USA) overtook Mika Poutala (FIN) in the rankings in the Final to win the cup, and Dutch revelation Jan Smeekens passed him to finish second overall. In the 1000m and the 1500m Shani Davis was this year again the strongest,

11

The International Skating Union travels to Barcelona (ESP) for the 53st ISU Ordinary Congress on 14-18 June 2010. Delegates will meet in the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos. Over 250 participants are expected, including ISU Office Holders and delegations from Member Federations. Every Congress sees major decisions about the future direction of the ISU. In 2010 there are a total of over 350 proposals. Elections, which are held every four years, will be held accordingly in Barcelona to determine all ISU office-holding positions. The candidates will be elected by secret ballot involving two rounds if necessary. The Congress begins on 14 June with debate on the Constitution and General Regulations. Joint Members for Figure Skating and Speed Skating have two votes on each proposal whereas Members for Figure Skating or Speed Skating alone are entitled to one vote. Workshops are also planned for the morning of Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be dedicated to full Congress then parallel Figure Skating and Speed Skating sessions, before a concluding, plenary session on Friday 18 June. Proposals require a two-thirds majority of Members in favor in order to be accepted.

THE PROPOSALSSome of the most important proposals from the ISU Council, Sports Directorate and Technical Committees are summarized briefly below. The full agenda has been published in Communication 1609 on the ISU website, www.isu.org.

GeneralRestructuring of the Union: The ISU Council proposes a restructuring of the Union which includes adjustments to the structure and administration of the ISU.

Cost saving measures- a series of proposed cost saving measures in particular relating to the organization of ISU Events as outlined in ISU Communication 1562.

Age limits/categories – proposed clarifications to the definition of Senior and Junior competitors so as to establish consistent age limits for all ISU sport disciplines with the aim to further improve the accompaniment of young budding skaters.

Speed Skating World Records – a proposal has been made to only recognize World Record times skated in ISU Events and Olympic Winter Games so as to ensure the regularity of conditions.

ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships and ISU World Single Distances

ISU CONGRESS PREVIEWstretching his chain of successes to seven overall World Cups. The long distance could have gone to Sven Kramer again, as he won all his races, but he was ill and could not participate in the Final, which set him back behind the podium. Norwegian Håvard Bøkko, last year’s runner up and winner in 2008 won ahead of Ivan Skobrev (RUS) and Bob de Jong, who was troubled by back injury in the second part of the season. Norway won the Team Pursuit ahead of the Netherlands with last year’s winner Canada in third.

Martina Sáblíková and Sven Kramer were crowned European champions in Hamar (NOR). For Kramer it was his fourth title in a row. Behind him, Enrico Fabris (ITA) and Ivan Skobrev (RUS) took silver and bronze. Sábliková beat Ireen Wüst and Daniela Anschütz-Thoms (GER).

The World Sprint Championships took place in the new ice hall in Obihiro on Hokkaido (JPN). These championships, four weeks before the Olympic Games, were a great success for the Korean team. Sang-Hwa Lee won the ladies’ event, and Kyou-Hyuk Lee was the men’s champion for the third time in his life. Sang-Hwa Lee beat home favourite Sayuri Yoshii who took silver, and Jenny Wolf, who took bronze. Kyou-Hyuk Lee beat his team-mate Kang-Seok Lee and Keiichiro Nagashima who is from Hokkaido.

At the Junior World Championships in Moscow (RUS), in March, the Dutch team was traditionally strong. Lotte van Beek and Koen Verweij became respectively ladies’ and men’s Junior World Champion for 2010. The Dutch ladies also won the Team Pursuit. Van Beek also won the 1000, 1500 and 3000m title and Verweij the 3000 and 5000m. Yekaterina Aydova (KAZ) and Artur Nogal (POL) won the distance titles on the 500m, Brian Hansen (USA) the 1000 and 1500m. The Norwegian men won the title in the Team Pursuit ahead of Korea. It was the first time in history that the Dutch men did not win. This was due to a poor semi-final, in their final race for bronze they set a junior world record of 3:53.09.

Both Kramer and Sábliková successfully defended their World Allround titles in Hee-renveen (NED) in March. Kramer was the first skater in history to win four World Allround titles in a row. The ladies confirmed the order of last year, with Groves and Wüst in second and third. Behind Kramer, Bøkko dropped to third place overall, as debutant Jonathan Kuck was a serious challenger to Kramer and made the championships exciting. Not until halfway during the last distance did he finally let Kramer take the lead.

Congress Program Monday 14 June Opening of the Congress / Congress Workshops / Full Congress

Tuesday 15 – Thursday 17 JuneFull Congress / Sections Figure Skating and Speed Skating

Friday 18 JuneFull Congress including Elections and Closing Banquet

Speed Skating Championships – a number of format changes are proposed for these events. Corner Judges – if passed Speed Skating will see a better definition of the role of Corner Judges at each curve.

Protection and Safety measures - updates to incorporate “state-of-the-art” safety measures and padding solutions.Kicking Out – if passed deliberate kicking out of a skate at the finish line, which entails a safety risk, would lead to disqualification.

Short TrackShort Track Speed Skating World Cup – several proposals to further enhance this ISU series. Protection and Safety measures – the Short Track Technical Committee propose updates to safety measures and padding solutions.

Single and Pair Skating / Ice DanceNew Dance format – introduction of a new format of competition in Ice Dance consisting of two parts/segments: a Short Dance and a Free Dance (as opposed to a Compulsory Dance, Original Dance and Free Dance).

Entry to ISU Championships - reduction to ISU Championships entries with the introduction of qualifying rounds.

Harmonization of rules- The Council, Sports Directorate, Single and Pair Skating and Ice Dance Technical Committees propose several changes to make the rules consistent across disciplines.

Synchronized SkatingWell Balanced Program – adjustments would be made to the required elements for the Short Program and Free Skating.

Deductions, Reductions in Free Skating – several proposed changes to the deductions.

Rule Clarifications - a series of proposals have been put forward to clarify the current rules and to harmonize with other Figure Skating disciplines.

FIGURE SKATING

SYNCHRONIZED SKATING

ISU WORLD STANDINGS BONUS 2009 / 2010

Ladies1 Yu-Na Kim KOR2 Akiko Suzuki JPN3 Miki Ando JPN

Men1 Evan Lysacek USA2 Daisuke Takahashi JPN3 Michal Brezina CZE

Pairs1 Xue Shen / Hongbo Zhao CHN2 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy GER3 Qing Pang / Jian Tong CHN

ISU WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 22 - 28 March 2010, Torino (ITA)

Ladies1 Mao Asada JPN2 Yu-Na Kim KOR3 Laura Lepisto FIN4 Miki Ando JPN5 Cynthia Phaneuf CAN

Men1 Daisuke Takahashi JPN2 Patrick Chan CAN3 Brian Joubert FRA4 Michal Brezina CZE5 Jeremy Abbott USA

Pairs1 Qing Pang / Jian Tong CHN2 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy GER3 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov RUS4 Maria Mukhortova / Maxim Trankov RUS5 Dan Zhang / Hao Zhang CHN

Ladies 1 Kanako Murakami JPN2 Agnes Zawadzki USA3 Polina Agafonova RUS4 Polina Shelepen RUS5 Anna Ovcharova RUS

Men1 Yuzuru Hanyu JPN2 Nan Song CHN3 Artur Gachinski RUS4 Keegan Messing USA5 Grant Hochstein USA

Pairs1 Wenjing Sui / Cong Han CHN2 Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran JPN3 Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov RUS4 Tatiana Novik / Mikhail Kuznetsov RUS5 Britney Simpson / Nathan Miller USA

ISU WORLD JUNIOR FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 8 – 14 March 2010, The Hague (NED)

Ladies1 Mao Asada JPN2 Akiko Suzuki JPN3 Caroline Zhang USA4 Amanda Dobbs USA5 Haruka Imai JPN

Men1 Adam Rippon USA2 Tatsuki Machida JPN3 Kevin Reynolds CAN4 Brandon Mroz USA5 Ryan Bradley USA

Pairs1 Dan Zhang / Hao Zhang CHN2 Keauna McLaughlin / Rockne Brubaker USA3 Meagan Duhamel / Craig Buntin CAN4 Caitlin Yankowskas / John Coughlin USA5 Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran JPN

ISU FOUR CONTINENTS FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 25 – 31 February 2010, Jeonju City (KOR)

Ladies1 Carolina Kostner ITA2 Laura Lepistö FIN3 Elene Gedevanishvili GEO4 Kiira Korpi FIN5 Sarah Meier SUI

Men1 Evgeni Plushenko RUS2 Stephane Lambiel SUI3 Brian Joubert FRA4 Michal Brezina CZE5 Samuel Contesti ITA

Pairs1 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov RUS2 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy GER3 Maria Mukhortova / Maxim Trankov RUS4 Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morozov UKR5 Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov RUS

ISU EUROPEAN FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 18 – 24 January 2010, Tallinn (EST)

ISU WORLD SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 9 - 10 April 2010, Colorado Springs (USA)

Teams1 Team Finland 1 4 Team Canada 2 7 Team Russia 10 Team Japan 13 Team Czech Republic 2 Team Finland 2 5 Team Canada 1 8 Team Germany 1 11 Team Sweden 2 14 Team Italy 3 Team USA 1 6 Team Sweden 1 9 Team USA 2 12 Team Germany 2 15 Team Switzerland

12

Ladies1 Yu-Na Kim KOR2 Mao Asada JPN3 Joannie Rochette CAN4 Mirai Nagasu USA5 Miki Ando JPN

Men1 Evan Lysacek RUS2 Evgeni Plushenko RUS3 Daisuke Takahashi JPN4 Stephane Lambiel SUI5 Patrick Chan CAN

Pairs1 Xue Shen / Hongbo Zhao CHN2 Qing Pang / Jian Tong CHN3 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy GER4 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov RUS5 Dan Zhang / Hao Zhang CHN

OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES 2010  – FIGURE SKATING

SPEED SKATING

Ice Dance1 Meryl Davis / Charlie White USA 2 Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir CAN3 Sinead Kerr / John Kerr GBR

Ice Dance1 Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir CAN2 Meryl Davis / Charlie White USA3 Federica Faiella / Massimo Scali ITA4 Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat FRA5 Sinead Kerr / John Kerr GBR

Ice Dance1 Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov RUS2 Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam CAN3 Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin RUS4 Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani USA5 Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi ITA

Ice Dance1 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje CAN2 Allie Hann-Mccurdy / Michael Coreno CAN3 Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell USA4 Xintong Huang / Xun Zheng CHN5 Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein USA

Ice Dance1 Oksana Domnina / Maxim Shabalin RUS2 Federica Faiella / Massimo Scali ITA3 Jana Khokhlova / Sergei Novitski RUS4 Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat FRA5 Sinead Kerr / John Kerr GBR

16 Team France 20 Team Croatia 17 Team Hungary 21 Team Belgium 18 Team Austria 22 Team Republic of South Africa 19 Team Australia 23 Team New Zealand

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Ice Dance1 Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir CAN2 Meryl Davis / Charlie White USA3 Oksana Domnina / Maxim Shabalin RUS4 Federica Faiella / Massimo Scali ITA5 Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto USA

Ladies 500 m Points1 Jenny Wolf GER 12602 Margot Boer NED 7003 Beixing Wang CHN 6804 Annette Gerritsen NED 6255 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR 505

Ladies 1000 m Points1 Christine Nesbitt CAN 4722 Margot Boer NED 3953 Monique Angermüller GER 3514 Natasja Bruintjes NED 3465 Annette Gerritsen NED 325

Ladies 1500 m Points1 Kristina Groves CAN 5602 Christine Nesbitt CAN 3743 Martina Sábliková CZE 3484 Brittany Schussler CAN 2965 Daniela Anschütz Thoms GER 259

Ladies 3000 m Points1 Martina Sábliková CZE 6102 Stephanie Beckert GER 5353 Daniela Anschütz Thoms GER 4354 Kristina Groves CAN 3805 Masako Hozumi JPN 258

Ladies Team Pursuit Points1 Canada 4302 Russia 3203 Germany 3104 Japan 2955 Netherlands 185

Men 500 m Points1 Tucker Fredricks USA 7882 Jan Smeekens NED 7423 Mika Poutala FIN 7024 Yuya Oikawa JPN 5875 Ronald Mulder NED 567

Men 1000 m Points1 Shani Davis USA 7502 Mark Tuitert NED 4253 Stefan Groothuis NED 3554 Simon Kuipers NED 3065 Denny Morrison CAN 292

Men 1500 m Points1 Shani Davis USA 6302 Håvard Bøkko NOR 3953 Denny Morrison CAN 3384 Mark Tuitert NED 2905 Chad Hedrick USA 268

Men 5000 / 10000 m Points1 Håvard Bøkko NOR 4552 Ivan Skobrev RUS 4303 Bob de Jong NED 4164 Sven Kramer NED 4005 Carl Verheijen NED 258

Men Team Pursuit Points1 Norway 3802 Netherlands 3503 Canada 3064 USA 2855 Italy 178

ESSENT ISU WORLD CUP SPEED SKATING – Final Standings

Men 500 m combined times1 Tae-Bum Mo KOR 1.09.820 2 Keiichiro Nagashima JPN 1.09.980 3 Joji Kato JPN 1.10.0104 Kang-Seok Lee KOR 1.10.0415 Mika Poutala FIN 1.10.044

Men 1000 m 1 Shani Davis USA 1:08.942 Tae-Bum Mo KOR 1:09.123 Chad Hedrick USA 1:09.324 Stefan Groothuis NED 1:09.455 Mark Tuitert NED 1:09.48

Men 1500 m 1 Mark Tuitert NED 1:45.572 Shani Davis USA 1:46.103 Håvard Bøkko NOR 1:46.134 Ivan Skobrev RUS 1:46.425 Tae-Bum Mo KOR 1:46.47

Men 5000 m 1 Sven Kramer NED 6:14.602 Seung-Hoon Lee KOR 6:16.953 Ivan Skobrev RUS 6:18.054 Håvard Bøkko NOR 6:18.805 Bob de Jong NED 6:19.02

Men 10000 m 1 Seung-Hoon Lee KOR 12:58.552 Ivan Skobrev RUS 13:02.073 Bob de Jong NED 13:06.734 Alexis Contin FRA 13:12.115 Håvard Bøkko NOR 13:14.92

Team Pursuit Men 1 Canada 3:41.37*2 USA 3:41.58*3 Netherlands 3:39.95 **4 Norway 3:40.50 **5 Republic of Korea 3:48.60

OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES 2010  –  SPEED SKATING

Ladies 500 m combined times1 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR 1.16.092 Jenny Wolf GER 1.16.143 Beixing Wang CHN 1.16.634 Margot Boer NED 1.16.875 Sayuri Yoshii JPN 1.16.99

Ladies 1000 m1 Christine Nesbitt CAN 1:16.562 Annette Gerritsen NED 1:16.583 Laurine Van Riessen NED 1:16.724 Kristina Groves CAN 1:16.785 Nao Kodaira JPN 1:16.80

Ladies 1500 m 1 Ireen Wüst NED 1:56.892 Kristina Groves CAN 1:57.143 Martina Sábliková CZE 1:57.964 Margot Boer NED 1:58.105 Nao Kodaira JPN 1:58.20

Ladies 3000 m 1 Martina Sábliková CZE 4:02.532 Stephanie Beckert GER 4:04.623 Kristina Groves CAN 4:04.844 Daniela Anschütz Thoms GER 4:04.875 Clara Hughes CAN 4:06.01

Ladies 5000 m 1 Martina Sábliková CZE 6:50.912 Stephanie Beckert GER 6:51.393 Clara Hughes CAN 6:55.734 Daniela Anschütz Thoms GER 6:58.645 Maren Haugli NOR 7:02.19

Team Pursuit Ladies 1 Germany 3:02.82 *2 Japan 3:02.84 *3 Poland 3:03.73 **4 USA 3:05.30 **5 Canada 3:01.41

* Gold medal Final ** Bronze medal Final

SPEED SKATING

14

Men1 Sven Kramer NED 2 Jonathan Kuck USA 3 Håvard Bøkko NOR 4 Ted-Jan Bloemen NED 5 Jan Blokhuijsen NED

ESSENT ISU WORLD ALLROUND SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 19 – 21 March 2010, Heerenveen (NED)Ladies1 Martina Sábliková CZE2 Kristina Groves CAN3 Ireen Wüst NED4 Daniela Anschütz Thoms GER5 Jilleanne Rookard USA

ESSENT ISU WORLD SPRINT SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 16 - 17 January 2009, Obihiro (JPN) Ladies1 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR2 Sayuri Yoshii JPN3 Jenny Wolf GER4 Nao Kodaira JPN5 Yekaterina Malysheva RUS

Men1 Kyou-Hyuk Lee KOR 2 Kang-Seok Lee KOR 3 Keiichiro Nagashima JPN 4 Ronald Mulder NED 5 Dmitry Lobkov RUS

ISU JUNIOR WORLD CUP SPEED SKATING – Final Standings

Men1 Koen Verweij NED2 Brian Hansen USA3 Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu CAN4 Sverre Lunde Pedersen NOR5 Frank Hermans NED

Men 500 m combined times1 Artur Nogal POL 1:11.62 2 Richard Maclennan CAN 1:11.793 Aleksey Bondarchuk KAZ 1:12.084 Laurent Dubreuil CAN 1:12.285 Robert Lawrence USA 1:12.61

Men 1500 m 1 Brian Hansen USA 1:46.83 2 Koen Verweij NED 1:47.96 3 A. Gelinas-Beaulieu CAN 1:48.44 4 Sverre L. Pedersen NOR 1:49.28 5 Hong-Seon Ha KOR 1:49.5

Men 3000 m 1 Koen Verweij NED 3:43.5 2 Sverre L. Pedersen NOR 3:47.05 3 Brian Hansen USA 3:47.604 Frank Hermans NED 3:48.475 Seok-Min Park KOR 3:48.50

Men 5000 m 1 Koen Verweij NED 6:25.15 2 Brian Hansen USA 6:33.89 3 A.Gelinas-Beaulieu CAN 6:34.66 4 Sverre L. Pedersen NOR 6:36.82 5 Seok-Min Park KOR 6:38.04

Team Pursuit Men 1 Norway2 Republic of Korea3 Netherlands4 USA

 ISU WORLD JUNIOR SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 12 - 14 March 2010, Moscow (RUS)

Ladies1 Lotte Van Beek NED2 Hege Bokko NOR3 Karolina Erbanova CZE4 Roxanne Van Hemert NED5 Ida Njatun NOR

Ladies 500 m combined times1 Yekaterina Aydova KAZ 1:18.132 Lotte Van Beek NED 1:19.233 Janine Smit NED 1:19.25 4 Erina Kamiya JPN 1:19.36 5 Jee-Min Ahn KOR 1:19.38

Ladies 1000 m 1 Lotte Van Beek NED 1:17.00 2 Hege Bokko NOR 1:17.40 3 Karolina Erbanova CZE 1:18.01 4 Janine Smit NED 1:18.73 5 Roxanne Van Hemert NED 1:18.86

Ladies 1500 m 1 Lotte Van Beek NED 1:57.95 2 Hege Bokko NOR 1:59.32 3 Karolina Erbanova CZE 1:59.77 4 Roxanne Van Hemert NED 2:00.20 5 Yevgeniya Dmitriyeva RUS 2:01.83

Ladies 3000 m 1 Lotte Van Beek NED 4:12.25 2 Yvonne Nauta NED 4:14.29 3 Yelena Sokhryakova RUS 4:15.50 4 Do-Yeong Park KOR 4:16.40 5 Hege Bokko NOR 4:16.57

Team Pursuit Ladies 1 Netherlands2 Japan3 Republic of Korea4 Canada

ESSENT ISU EUROPEAN SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS,9 – 10 January 2010, Hamar (NOR)Ladies1 Martina Sábliková CZE2 Ireen Wüst NED3 Daniela Anschütz Thoms GER4 Yekaterina Lobysheva RUS5 Maren Haugli NOR

Men1 Sven Kramer NED 2 Enrico Fabris ITA 3 Ivan Skobrev RUS 4 Alexis Contin FRA 5 Jan Blokhuijsen NED

Men 500 m1 Aleksey Bondarchuk KAZ 3752 Artur Nogal POL 2503 Andrey Panov RUS 2294 Richard Maclennan CAN 2205 Kjetil Stiansen NOR 189

Men 1000 m1 Aleksey Bondarchuk KAZ 2852 Richard Maclennan CAN 2003 Artur Nogal POL 1904 Kjetil Stiansen NOR 1705 Pavel Kulizhnikov RUS 156

Men 1500 m 1 Kjetil Stiansen NOR 3102 Thom Van Beek NED 2923 Maurice Vriend NED 2304 Tommi Pulli FIN 1355 Harvard H. Lorentzen NOR 130

Ladies 500 m1 Yekaterina Aydova KAZ 4502 Lotte Van Beek NED 2353 Janine Smit NED 2254 Erina Kamiya JPN 1905 Floor Van Den Brandt NED 185

Ladies 1000 m1 Yekaterina Aydova KAZ 3302 Ida Njåtun NOR 2853 Janine Smit NED 2154 Angelina Golikova RUS 1905 Tatyana Sokirko KAZ 126

Ladies 1500 m 1 Lotte Van Beek NED 2852 Yevgeniya Dmitriyeva RUS 2793 Ida Njåtun NOR 2254 Yelena Sokhryakova RUS 1805 Roxanne Van Hemert NED 170

Men 5000/10000m1 Frank Hermans NED 2202 Sverre L. Pedersen NOR 1903 Harvard H. Lorentzen NOR 1904 Lucas Van Alphen NED 1555 Aleksey Belyakov RUS 108

Men Team Pursuit1 Netherlands 2502 Norway 1903 Russia 1704 Germany 1255 Japan 105

Ladies 3000 m1 Irene Schouten NED 2552 Jennifer Bay GER 1823 Ida Njåtun NOR 1604 Hege Bøkko NOR 1505 Yelena Sokhryakova RUS 150

Ladies Team Pursuit1 Netherlands 2502 Russia 2003 Italy 1304 Kazakhstan 1275 Japan 105

Ladies 500 m Points

1 Meng Wang CHN 30002 Kalyna Roberge CAN 22403 Nannan Zhao CHN 19524 Marianne St-Gelais CAN 13155 Jessica Gregg CAN 1272

Ladies 1000 m Points

1 Wang Meng CHN 26002 Reutter Katherine USA 23123 Zhou Yang CHN 17384 Eun-Byul Lee KOR 17225 Ha-Ri Cho KOR 1496

Ladies 1500 m Points

1 Yang Zhou CHN 26402 Eun-Byul Lee KOR 24403 Katherine Reutter USA 19684 Linlin Sun CHN 17225 Qiuhong Liu CHN 1547

Ladies Relay Points

1 China 30002 Republic of Korea 22103 United States 21124 Canada 19205 Japan 1640

Ladies Team Points

1 China 40002 Republic of Korea 27523 Canada 25924 United States 24645 Japan 1410

Men 500 m Points

1 Charles Hamelin CAN 23282 François-Louis Tremblay CAN 20243 Si-Bak Sung KOR 16084 Yoon-Gy Kwak KOR 15785 Jialiang Han CHN 1472

Men 1000 m Points

1 Jung-Su Lee KOR 26002 Apolo Anton Ohno USA 17223 Charles Hamelin CAN 16504 Francois Hamelin CAN 15625 Si-Bak Sung KOR 1512

Men 1500 m Points

1 Jung-Su Lee KOR 24402 Charles Hamelin CAN 21523 Si-Bak Sung KOR 18694 Ho-Suk Lee KOR 18005 Apolo Anton Ohno USA 1574

Men Relay Points

1 Republic of Korea 30002 Canada 26003 China 20804 United States 17225 Italy 1434

Men Team Points

1 Republic of Korea 38002 Canada 32403 United States 27204 China 19465 Italy 1594

ISU WORLD CUP SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING – Final Standings

ISU WORLD JUNIOR SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 8 – 10 January 2010. Taipei City (TPE) 

SHORT TRACK

15

Ladies1 Jihyun Choi KOR 2 Mi-Yeon Lee KOR 3 Jaewon Song KOR 4 Dan Li CHN 5 Kexin Fan CHN

Ladies Relay1 Republic of Korea 2 China 3 Canada4 Italy

Men1 Jinkyu Noh KOR 2 Antoine Gelinas- Beaulieu CAN 3 Seyeong Park KOR 4 Mikhail-Jeonghan Choi CAN 5 Sunghan Kim KOR

Men Relay1 Republic of Korea 2 Canada 3 Japan4 China

ISU EUROPEAN SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 22 - 24 January 2010, Dresden (GER)

Ladies1 Katerina Novotna CZE 2 Arianna Fontana ITA 3 Elise Christie GBR 4 Bernadett Heidum HUN 5 Evgenia Radanova BUL

Ladies Relay1 Germany 2 Russia3 Netherlands4 Hungary

Men1 Nicola Rodigari ITA 2 Thibaut Fauconnet FRA 3 Maxime Chataignier FRA 4 Niels Kerstholt NED5 Jon Eley GBR

Men Relay1 Italy2 Germany 3 Great Britain4 France

ISU WORLD SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 19 - 21 March 2010, Sofia (BUL)

Ladies1 Seung-Hi Park KOR 2 Meng Wang CHN 3 Ha-Ri Cho KOR 4 Eun-Byul Lee KOR 5 Kalyna Roberge CAN

Ladies Relay1 Republic of Korea 2 Canada 3 USA4 China

Ladies 500m1 Meng Wang CHN 2 Kalyna Roberge CAN 3 Marianne St-Gelais CAN

Ladies 1000m1 Meng Wang CHN2 Ha-Ri Cho KOR 3 Katherine Reutter USA

Ladies 1500m1 Seung-Hi Park KOR2 Eun-Byul Lee KOR 3 Ha-Ri Cho KOR

Men1 Ho-Suk Lee KOR 2 Yoon-Gy Kwak KOR 3 Wenhao Liang CHN 4 J.R.Celski USA 5 Francois Hamelin CAN

Men Relay1 Republic of Korea 2 USA 3 Germany 4 China

Men 500m1 Wenhao Liang CHN2 Francois Hamelin CAN 3 Francois-Louis Tremblay CAN

Men 1000m1 Ho-Suk Lee KOR 2 Yoon-Gy Kwak KOR 3 J.R. Celski USA

Men 1500m1 Yoon-Gy Kwak KOR2 Si-Bak Sung KOR 3 Ho-Suk Lee KOR

ISU WORLD SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS, 27 - 28 March 2010, Bormio (ITA)

Ladies1 Republic of Korea 2 Canada3 Italy4 Japan

Men1 Republic of Korea 2 Canada3 China 4 Italy

Ladies 500 m 1 Meng Wang CHN2 Marianne St-Gelais CAN3 Arianna Fontana ITA4 Jessica Gregg CAN5 Yang Zhou CHN

Ladies 1000 m 1 Meng Wang CHN2 Katherine Reutter USA3 Seung-Hi Park KOR4 Ha Ri cho KOR5 Kalyna Roberge CAN

Ladies 1500 m 1 Yang Zhou CHN2 Eun-Byul Lee KOR3 Seung-Hi Park KOR4 Katherine Reutter USA5 Ha-Ri Cho KOR

Ladies Relay 1 China 2 Canada3 United States4 Netherlands

Men 500 m 1 Charles Hamelin CAN2 Si-Bak Sung KOR3 Francois-Louis Tremblay CAN4 Yoon-Gy Kwak KOR5 Tyson Heung GER

Men 1000 m 1 Jung-Su Lee KOR2 Ho-Suk Lee KOR3 Apolo Anton Ohno USA4 Charles Hamelin CAN5 Francois Hamelin CAN

Men 1500 m 1 Jung-Su Lee KOR2 Apolo Anton Ohno USA3 J.R Celski USA4 Olivier Jean CAN5 Si-Bak Sung KOR

Men Relay 1 Canada 2 Republic of Korea3 United States4 China

OLYMPIC WINTER  GAMES  2010  –  SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

PAST MASTERS

Olympic Winter Games

Men’s 5000m Speed Skating Gold Medal 1984Men’s 10000m Speed Skating Silver Medal 1984Men’s 5000m Speed Skating Gold Medal 1988Men’s 10000m Speed Skating Gold Medal 1988

ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships

Men’s Silver Medal 1983

ISU European Speed Skating Championships

Men’s Gold Medal 1982Men’s Bronze Medal 1986Men’s Gold Medal 1988Men’s Silver Medal 1990

ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships

Men’s Gold Medal 1979Men’s Gold Medal 1980

Three times Olympic Champion and twice European Champion Gustafson is one of the most successful skaters of the eighties. He took his first ISU World Gold at Junior level at the 1979 ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships, succeeding Eric Heiden (USA) in this honor. Like Heiden, he held on to the Junior title for two successive years. In 1982 Gustafson went on to cream the European title and skate a World Record on the 10000m distance. He was to achieve a second World Record on the same distance six years later in 1988.

TOMAS GUSTAFSON (SWE) BORN 1959