Short Track 2018/Women's 1500 metre

Women's 1500 metre
General information
Sport	Short Track 2018
Date	17 February 2018
Competitors	36 athletes
Venue	Gangneung Ice Arena
Previous medalists
Gold	Zhou Yang
Silver	Shim Suk-hee
Bronze	Arianna Fontana
Conditions
Length	1500 metres
Medalists
	Choi Min-jeong
	Li Jinyu
	Kim Boutin

The women's 1500 metre of Short Track 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February 2018 in the Gangneung Ice Arena. With 36 athletes competing, the event was won by Choi Min-jeong from South Korea, with Li Jinyu from China taking the silver medal and Kim Boutin from Canada taking bronze.

Format

The competition exists out of three rounds, each with races of six skaters. In the first round, the top three with the fastest times advance to the next round, with confirmation of a jury. The semifinals see the fastest two competitors advance to the final. The fastest competitor in the final is the winner of the event.

Preview

Thirty-six athletes qualified for the event, and the favorites would be coming from South Korea, China, and Canada. This was also reflected in the world rankings, with the South Koreans Choi Min-jeong and Shim Suk-hee leading the charge, followed by the Canadians Kim Boutin, Valerie Maltais, and Marianne St-Gelais. The Chinese competitors were also not to be underestimated, with Zhou Yang, as the defending champion of both Sochi and Vancouver, Han Yutong, and Li Jinyu. There were also a lot of other medal contenders, such as Arianna Fontana, reigning bronze medalist and winner of the 500 metre event a few days prior, Jorien ter Mors, fourth-placed of this event and winner of the speed skating event over the same distance in Sochi, as well as current Olympic champion in the 1000 metre event in speed skating a few days before in a new Olympic record, Deanna Lockett, and Suzanne Schulting.

Li Jinyu and Maame Biney were both born after 1 January 2000, with Biney just having turned 18 years old. Behind them, Sara Luca Bacskai, Cheyenne Goh, Petra Jaszapati, Choi Min-jeong, and Anna Seidel were also all younger than 20 years old, making up for a young field of competitors. Jessica Kooreman would be making her second Olympic appearance at the age of 34, while Veronique Pierron and Jorien ter Mors would make their third Olympic appearance aged 28, as the oldest three competitors of the field. Sixteen out of thirty-six competitors had appeared at the Olympic Games before, with Arianna Fontana being the only one competing since Torino 2006, winning a medal at every edition.

Current Records

Record	Date	Nat.	Name	Time
WR	12 November 2016		Choi Min-jeong	2:14.354
OR	20 February 2010		Zhou Yang	2:16.993

Summary

Heats

The competition started off with a bang, with Shim Suk-hee, Arianna Fontana, and Jorien ter Mors all competing in the first heat. Shim, competing for the host country, was in possession of the world record on the 1000 metre and the relay, Fontana won the gold medal at the shortest event, and Ter Mors had already won a medal at these Olympic Games. Much to the disappointment of the home crowd, Shim fell on her own accord, ruining her chances for qualification. With Fontana and Ter Mors safely qualifying, Sumire Kikuchi finished as the rest of the best, especially after Sara Luca Bacskai received a penalty.

Heat 1 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Arianna Fontana	2:28.494	Q
2		Jorien ter Mors	2:28.587	Q
3		Sumire Kikuchi	2:29.665	Q
4		Iong A Kim	2:29.875
5		Shim Suk-hee	2:39.984
6		Sara Luca Bacskai		PEN

The second heat did not necessarily have any big favorites for the gold medal, but four out of six skaters already had Olympic experience. Han Yutong and Marianne St-Gelais took a small lead, but managed to stay out of trouble, just like Martina Valcepina at the back of the pack. With Jessica Kooreman taking risks to retain her position in the race, she bumped against St-Gelais and accidentally caused Anna Seidel to crash, leaving her with a penalty, and causing Seidel to advance by jury decision.

Heat 2 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Han Yutong	2:31.158	Q
2		Marianne St Gelais	2:31.274	Q
3		Martina Valcepina	2:31.370	Q
4		Kathryn Thomson	2:32.891
5		Anna Seidel	2:56.976	ADV
6		Jessica Kooreman		PEN

The third heat was the only heat with no Canadian or Korean skaters, but with Suzanne Schulting and Deanna Lockett two possible outsiders for the title. Despite many changes in front at the start of the race, Michaela Sejpalova and Cheyenne Goh were not able to follow the tempo of the other four, and after Ekaterina Efremenkova crashed, the qualifying athletes Schulting, Lockett, and Charlotte Gilmartin were quickly decided.

Heat 3 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Suzanne Schulting	2:27.730	Q
2		Deanna Lockett	2:28.996	Q
3		Charlotte Gilmartin	2:29.005	Q
4		Michaela Sejpalova	2:30.012
5		Cheyenne Goh	2:36.971
6		Ekaterina Efremenkova		PEN

Halfway through the heats and many of the pre-event favorites were still to come, of which Kim Boutin and Kim A-lang in the next heat. This race was also quickly decided, with Kim Boutin, Kim A-lang, and Veronique Pierron slowly moving away from the other three skaters. It didn't help that Anastassiya Krestova and Yuki Kikuchi received penalties for infractions at the beginning of the race.

Heat 4 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Kim A-lang	2:20.891	Q, PR
2		Kim Boutin	2:21.149	Q
3		Veronique Pierron	2:22.119	Q
4		Magdalena Warakomska	2:23.693
5		Anastassiya Krestova		PEN
6		Yuki Kikuchi		PEN

The penultimate heat included the three-time Olympic champion Zhou Yang, and despite her somewhat disappointing results in the World Cup, she still was the reigning Olympic champion on this event. Elise Christie was the world champion on the 1000 metres and the 1500 metres and was determined to get a good result at an Olympic stage. In the first clean race of the event, Christie and Zhou were the clear qualifiers of the heat, with Valerie Maltais barely prevailing an ultimate challenge from Tifany Huot Marchand.

Heat 5 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Elise Christie	2:29.316	Q
2		Zhou Yang	2:29.587	Q
3		Valerie Maltais	2:29.877	Q
4		Tifany Huot Marchand	2:29.996
5		Bianca Walter	2:30.819
6		Maame Biney	2:31.819

The last heat had perhaps the biggest medal contender in Choi Min-jeong, number one in the world. Skating in front of a home crowd, the heats shouldn't prove much of a challenge. Despite taking some rest at the start of the race, the move to the front was quickly made, taking control of the race. Petra Jaszapati, Li Jinyu, and Sofia Prosvirnova would decide who would go through after Choi, with Prosvirnova just missing out.

Heat 6 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Choi Min-jeong	2:24.595	Q
2		Petra Jaszapati	2:25.022	Q
3		Li Jinyu	2:25.034	Q
4		Sofia Prosvirnova	2:25.553
5		Lana Gehring	2:27.336
6		Shione Kaminaga	2:28.719

Semifinals

The semifinals would only see two skaters of each race qualifying for the final, and with most pre-event favorites having qualified, the field was wide open. The first semifinal would have the qualified athletes of heats 2 and 4 of the previous round competing against each other, which featured the Canadians Kim Boutin and Marianne St-Gelais, and the Korean Kim A-lang. With the two Canadians seemingly trying to control the race by setting themselves upfront, but this was more difficult towards the end, with Anna Seidel and St-Gelais crashing, the latter almost taking out the back of the field in her fall. Kim A-lang showed her class by beating Kim Boutin, with the remaining Canadian standing also narrowly surviving an ultimate challenge by Han Yutong.

Semifinal 1 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Kim A-lang	2:22.691	QA
2		Kim Boutin	2:22.799	QA
3		Han Yutong	2:22.826	QB
4		Martina Valcepina	2:24.171	QB
5		Veronique Pierron	2:28.023
6		Anna Seidel	3:00.658
7		Marianne St Gelais		PEN

The second semifinal had the first and third heats competing against each other, now including the two Dutchwomen Jorien ter Mors and Suzanne Schulting, and with Arianna Fontana and Deanna Lockett, two other skaters in the top 10 of the world rankings. In a close race, with all six skaters still bunched up towards the end, Charlotte Gilmartin was the first to fall, followed by Lockett in the last turn of the race. With Ter Mors only slightly ahead of the bunch at the finish line, the three remaining skaters battling for the last spot in the final, eventually won by Fontana, in a photo finish with Sumire Kikuchi.

Semifinal 2 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Jorien ter Mors	2:34.385	QA
2		Arianna Fontana	2:34.489	QA
3		Sumire Kikuchi	2:34.526	QB
4		Suzanne Schulting	2:34.632	QB
5		Charlotte Gilmartin	3:00.691
6		Deanna Lockett	3:01.928

The last semifinal had very high expectations, with world number one Choi Min-jeong, world champion Elise Christie, and defending champion Zhou Yang against each other. The Chinese skaters were controlling the race until a few laps before the end, when Valerie Maltais managed to slip ahead. In a hectic finale, Choi, Li Jinyu, and Christie managed to escape from the bunch, but with Christie causing a fall in an ultimate attempt to finish second, Petra Jaszapati was the lucky skater to finish second instead. Christie received a penalty (just like Maltais), and Li Jinyu qualified for the final after jury decision.

Semifinal 3 Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Choi Min-jeong	2:22.295	QA
2		Petra Jaszapati	2:23.210	QA
3		Zhou Yang	2:23.485	QB
4		Li Jinyu	2:33.005	ADVA
5		Elise Christie		PEN
6		Valerie Maltais		PEN

Finals

The final was packed, with seven competitors, and a new Olympic champion after Zhou Yang only managed to qualify for the B final. Kim Boutin, Arianna Fontana, and Jorien ter Mors had already won medals in the week before this event. The two Korean skaters in the final would be determined to perform well in this event too. In a hectic but fair final, with lots of changes at front, the home favourite Choi Min-jeong was able to take the lead two laps before the finish, and only extended her lead afterwards. Li Jinyu managed to slip through in a final sprint with Boutin and Ter Mors, with Boutin taking bronze, her second medal in two events.

A Final Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Choi Min-jeong	2:24.948
2		Li Jinyu	2:25.703
3		Kim Boutin	2:25.834
4		Kim A-lang	2:25.941
5		Jorien ter Mors	2:25.955
6		Petra Jaszapati	2:26.138
7		Arianna Fontana	2:27.475

In the B final, Suzanne Schulting initially took the lead, but the Chinese skaters Zhou Yang and Han Yutong quickly regained control. Halfway throughout the race, Han and Schulting tried to escape from the rest, with limited results. An acceleration from Zhou Yang two laps before the end did prove successful, winning the race with a big margin. Martina Valcepina tried to follow, and finished second, but caused a crash of Sumire Kikuchi, and received a penalty.

B Final Results
Rank	Nat.	Athlete	Time	Info
1		Zhou Yang	2:35.241
2		Han Yutong	2:36.548
3		Suzanne Schulting	2:37.163
4		Sumire Kikuchi	2:54.450
5		Martina Valcepina		PEN

Results

Choi Min-jeong won her first Olympic medal, after her disqualification at the shortest distance at her Olympic debut. Li Jinyu and Kim Boutin also competed at their first Olympic Games, the former becoming the youngest Olympic medalist for China at her first medal event. Boutin won her second medal, after she won the bronze medal at the 500 metres a few days prior. Kim A-lang just missed what would have been her first individual medal, after winning the relay event in 2014. Jorien ter Mors narrowly missed out on becoming the first female athlete to win Olympic medals in two different sports in the same year, after she won the 1000 metres event in speed skating.

Result	Athlete	Nationality
	Choi Min-jeong	South Korea
	Li Jinyu	China
	Kim Boutin	Canada
4	Kim A-lang	South Korea
5	Jorien ter Mors	Netherlands
6	Petra Jaszapati	Hungary
7	Arianna Fontana	Italy
8	Zhou Yang	China
9	Han Yutong	China
10	Suzanne Schulting	Netherlands
11	Sumire Kikuchi	Japan
12	Martina Valcepina	Italy
13	Veronique Pierron	France
14	Charlotte Gilmartin	Great Britain
15	Deanna Lockett	Australia
16	Anna Seidel	Germany
17	Elise Christie	Great Britain
18	Marianne St Gelais	Canada
19	Valerie Maltais	Canada
20	Magdalena Warakomska	Poland
21	Sofia Prosvirnova	Olympic Athletes from Russia
22	Iong A Kim	Kazakhstan
23	Tifany Huot Marchand	France
24	Michaela Sejpalova	Czech Republic
25	Kathryn Thomson	Great Britain
26	Lana Gehring	United States
27	Bianca Walter	Germany
28	Cheyenne Goh	Singapore
29	Shim Suk-hee	South Korea
30	Shione Kaminaga	Japan
31	Maame Biney	United States
-	Yuki Kikuchi	Japan
-	Sara Luca Bacskai	Hungary
-	Ekaterina Efremenkova	Olympic Athletes from Russia
-	Anastassiya Krestova	Kazakhstan
-	Jessica Kooreman	United States