The European Short Track Speed Skating Championships is the largest annual continental competition, and is held just a month before the start of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The championship will be a very important stage of verification sportswear and leads to the main start of the four years for those who have medal ambitions in Korea.
The 22nd European Championship will attract the best athletes in Europe, it is expected that from 12 to 14 January 2018 at the EnergieVerbund Arena in Dresden (Germany) more than 130 athletes from 27 countries will take part in the competition.
Championship Europe will pass in Dresden for the third time. Only Turin hosted the European championship the same number of times. Modern Ice Palace, located in the Sportpark Ostragehege, accommodates more than 4,000 fans. The ice is very good quality, which allowed the Chinese woman Wang Meng in 2013 to set a world record at five hundred in Dresden.
European Championship Schedule
For the second time in the 22-year history of the event, the winners of the European Championship medals will be determined both in individual distances and in the all-around.
On Friday 12 January there will be qualifying rounds. On Saturday, January 13, the semi-finals and finals for men and women in the 1500 meters will take place, and then the semi-finals and finals in the 500-meter race. At the end of the first day of competition, the winners and prize-winners of the two distances will receive their medals.
On Sunday, the European Championship will continue with semi-finals and finals in men's and women's 1000 meters. The 3,000m Superfinal will decide the all-around champions, and the weekend will end with exciting relay races.
Broadcasts
Broadcasts of the European Championship will be available on the sportbox.ru portal and on the ISU Skating Channel (http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/isu/)
January 13 - beginning at 15.00 (Moscow time)
- Final 1500 meters (Women) - 15.50 hours.
- Final 1500 meters (Men) - 16.05.
- Final 500 meters (Women) - 17.48 hours.
- Final 500 meters (Men) - 17.57 hours.
January 14 - beginning at 15.00 (Moscow time)
- Final 1000 meters (Women) - 16.24 hours.
- Final 1000 meters (Men) - 16.35 hours.
- Superfinal 3000 meters (Women) - 17.00
- Superfinal 3000 meters (Men) - 17.08.
- Final of the 3000 meters relay (Women) - 17.32 hours.
- 5000 meters relay final (Men) – 17.41 hrs.
Women
Last year's World Champion Eliza Christie of Great Britain will not compete in this year's European Championships as she continues to recover from a hip injury she sustained while competing at the ISU World Cup in Budapest in September 2017. The best short track skater in the world last season is aiming for a full recovery and reaching peak form in a month in Pyeongchang.
In the last decade in the women's part of the European Championships program, Italian legend Arianna Fontana has been on the podium 8 times, while she became the owner of the main all-around title six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017).
In recent years, she has faced some serious competition from Christy, who won gold in 2015 and 2016. However, last year on home ice in Turin, in the absence of the British representative, 27-year-old Arianna Fontana again won the highest title. Of course, in Dresden, Fontana, recently chosen as the flag bearer for Italy at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games, will strive to maintain her team's confidence in its star potential.
Fontana several times climbed the podium of the World Cup stages of this season. She won silver medals in Budapest and Shanghai in the 500m, and bronze in Shanghai in the 1000m. Her teammate 25-year-old Martina Valchepina also impressed with her speed and strategy, taking bronze in the 500m at the EKM in Dordrecht and Seoul.
Other contenders for medals include two representatives of the Netherlands national team, Suzanne Schulting and Jaru van Kerhoof.
Men
In the men's part of the program of the European Championships over the past two years, there was no equal to Semyon Elistratov, who replaced the Dutchman Schinki Knegt, the all-around champion in 2015, on the European throne.
This season Knegt is in excellent shape. The 28-year-old Dutch short track skater has a good chance of winning Olympic medals and consistently improves his results on the way to the Olympics, having 5 EKM medals in his asset: bronze at 1500 m in Budapest, bronze (1500 m), silver (500 m) and gold (1000 m) in Dordrecht and silver (1500 m) in Shanghai.
Who will be his main rival this weekend in Germany? Brilliant brothers from Hungary, Shaolin Shandor Liu and Shaoan Liu. Shaolin won gold at the EKM in Budapest in the 500m and 1000m in Seoul. The brothers also made it to the podium, finishing second (Shaolin) and third (Shaoan) respectively in Seoul (500m) and Shanghai (1000m). Often the brothers help each other, jumping out from behind and making an unexpected jerk.
Russian team
Russian short trackers spent the first part of the season very unconvincingly. Formally, according to the results of the World Cup, the Russian team completed the main task: they received three (the maximum number) tickets to the Games in each of the three men's distances, two in each of the women's and in both relay races. However, no high results were shown: Russian athletes became participants in the main finals a counted number of times, and only three of us took medals at four stages, all of them were women. In men the best result Semyon Yelistratov got into the final on the “thousand” in Holland, which ended in a violation of the rules and disqualification.
According to the results of the first part of the season, only Sofya Prosvirnova in the 500 and the women's relay team can be considered real contenders for the European Championship medals.
The Russian national team at the European Championship will be represented by Viktor An, Semyon Elistratov, Alexander Shulginov, Denis Airapetyan and Pavel Sitnikov.
The women's half of the national team was headed by the country's strongest short track skater Sofia Prosvirnova. Together with her, the team included Ekaterina Efremenkova, Ekaterina Konstantinova, Tatyana Borodulina and Emina Malagich.
2008 Olympics Select Biathlon tournament. KM-2009. Biathlon men. KM-2009. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2009 Athletics. World Cup 2009 Choose a Biathlon tournament. KM-2010. Biathlon men. KM-2010. Women Olympics 2010 Choose a Biathlon tournament. KM-2011. Biathlon men. KM-2011. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2011 Biathlon. Christmas Race 2010 Biathlon. Race of Champions 2011 Athletics. World Cup 2011 Choose a Biathlon tournament. KM-2012. Biathlon men. KM-2012. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2012 Biathlon. Christmas Race 2011 Biathlon. Race of Champions 2012 Olympics 2012 Select Biathlon Tournament. KM-2013. Biathlon men. KM-2013. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2013 Biathlon. Christmas Race 2012 Biathlon. Race of Champions 2013 luge. KM-2013 Snowboard. KM-2013. Men snowboard. KM-2013. Bobsleigh women. KM-2013. Bobsleigh men. KM-2013. Women Figure skating. The Grand Prix Skiing. KM-2013. Men Ski race. KM-2013. Men Cross-country skiing. KM-2013. Women Freestyle. KM-2013. Freestyle men. KM-2013. Women Skating. KM-2013. Men Speed skating. KM-2013. Women Short Track. KM-2013. Men's short track. KM-2013. Women ski jumping. KM-2013. Men ski jumping. KM-2013. Women Nordic combined. KM-2013 Skeleton. KM-2013 Select tournament Athletics. World Cup 2013 Universiade 2013 Skiing. World Cup 2013 Alpine skiing. World Cup 2013 Freestyle. World Cup 2013 Snowboard. World Cup 2013 Speed skating. World Cup 2013 Short track. World Cup 2013 Figure skating. World Cup 2013 Bobsleigh. World Cup 2013 Skeleton. World Cup 2013 Luge. 2013 World Cup Select tournament 2014 Olympics Indoor Athletics. World Cup 2014 Fencing. World Cup 2014 Athletics. European Championship 2014 water sports sports. European Championship 2014 Youth Olympic Games 2014 Biathlon. Christmas Race 2014 Select Biathlon Tournament. KM-2014. Biathlon men. KM-2014. Women Biathlon. Christmas Race 2013 Biathlon. Race of Champions 2014 Select Biathlon Tournament. KM-2015. Biathlon men. KM-2015. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2015 Biathlon. Race of Champions 2015 Choose a Figure Skating Tournament. European Championship 2015 Speed skating. World Cup 2015 Skiing. World Cup 2015 Athletics. European Championship 2015 Short track. World Cup 2015 European Games 2015 Water sports. World Cup 2015 Athletics. World Cup 2015 Figure skating. Rostelecom Cup 2015 Biathlon. Christmas Race 2015 Select the 2015/16 World Cup Tournament. Men World Cup 2015/16. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2016 Biathlon. EURO 2016 Choose a Figure Skating Tournament. European Championship 2016 Figure skating. World Cup 2016 Speed skating. World Cup 2016 Skiing. YJWCH 2016 Olympiad 2016 Select a tournament Race of Champions 2016 World Cup 2016/17. Men World Cup 2016/17. Women Biathlon. World Cup 2017 Biathlon. Christmas race 2016 Biathlon. EURO 2017 Choose a Figure Skating Tournament. European Championship 2017 Bandy. World Cup 2017 Skiing. World Cup 2017 Short track. World Cup 2017 Figure skating. World Cup 2017 Speed skating. World Cup 2017 Water sports. World Cup 2017 Select tournament World Cup 2017/18. Men Figure skating. Grand Prix 2017/18 World Cup 2017/18. Women cross-country skiing. KM-2017. Men Cross-country skiing. KM-2017. Women Biathlon. Christmas race 2017 Biathlon. EURO 2018 Select tournament Olympics 2018 Bandy. World Cup 2018 Figure skating. European Championship 2018 Figure skating. World Cup 2018 Speed skating. European Championship 2018 Short track. EURO 2018 Select Biathlon Tournament. World Cup 2018/19 Figure skating. Grand Prix 2018/19 Cross-country skiing. KM-2018. Biathlon men. World Cup 2019 Biathlon. European Championship 2019 Cross-country skiing. KM-2018. Women Biathlon. Christmas Race 2018 Choose a Figure Skating Tournament. European Championship 2019 Figure skating. World Cup 2019 Bandy. World Cup 2019 Speed skating. World Cup 2019 Skiing. World Cup 2019 Universiade 2019 Athletics. World Cup 2019 Water sports. World Cup 2019 Figure skating. World Team Cup European Games 2019 UFC 2019 Select Biathlon Tournament. World Cup 2019/20 Figure skating. Grand Prix 2019/20 Cross-country skiing. World Cup 2019/20 Biathlon. IBU Cup-2019-2020 Biathlon. Christmas Race 2019
DRESDEN (Germany), January 14 - RIA Novosti, Anatoly Samokhvalov. on the short track, which ended on Sunday in Dresden, Germany, brought Russian athletes eight medals, of which only one was gold - in the women's relay.
Medals for the Russians at individual distances were brought (two silvers - at 1500 and 1000 meters), (silver at 500 meters), Sofia Prosvirnova (bronze at 500 meters). The Dutchman Shinki Knegt, who won all three distances, became the European champion in the all-around, Yelistratov won the bronze medal. In women, the absolute champion of Europe for the second season in a row was Arianna Fontana from Italy, Prosvirnova took bronze. On the last day of the tournament, the Russians took gold in the relay, the men won silver in this type of program.
Gold in the women's relay
The women's Russian team consisting of Tatyana Borodulina, Emina Malagich, and Ekaterina Efremenkova actually contested the highest award in the 3000 meters relay with the Hungarians, as the French women fell during the race, and a little earlier - the Germans. Failed to qualify for final A strong teams Netherlands and Italy.
The men's relay team consisting of Semyon Elistratov, Denis Hayrapetyan, Viktor An and Alexander Shulginov tried to the last to fight for gold, An acted as the finisher, but Knegt brought the Dutch ahead a lap and a half before the finish line, as a result, Russian short track skaters were left with silver, the third are Hungarians.
The gloomy superfinal of the double absolute champion Europe
On the last day, the athletes competed at the individual distance of 1000 meters, after which they finally distributed places in the all-around in the Superfinal at 3000 meters (there is no separate award in this discipline).
On the "thousand" to the final And of the Russians, only Yelistratov came out. Victor Ahn was eliminated in the quarter-finals, becoming the last one with not the strongest opponents, and there were no visible reasons to turn off the fight. Denis Hayrapetyan was disqualified for a foul against Italian Tommaso Dotti.
Yelistratov's main rival Knegt made a mistake twice in the semi-final and finished only third, but then the judges saw a violation against him and allowed the leader of the Netherlands team to the final. With two laps to go, Yelistratov moved into first position, but two turns later Knegt overtook the Russian for a third out of three personal distance wins. Elistratov - second, third - Latvian Roberto Pukitis.
In the 3000 meters Superfinal, which serves to distribute places in the all-around, but for success in which there are no separate awards, Yelistratov could not hold on to the second position in the all-around (the last place in the race itself). The Russian scored 43 points and lost silver to the Israeli Vladislav Bykanov (52), after whose victory in the Superfinal at the EnergieVerbund Arena, "Hava Nagila" began to play. Knegt earned 107 points.
Fontana - best second consecutive season
In the competition among women on Sunday, Ekaterina Konstantinova managed to shine, not very well spent running the 1500 and 500 meters. The athlete reached the semi-finals with difficulty from third place, but there she made a tactically competent overtaking and wedged into second position between two Dutch women - Suzanne Schulting and Lara van Ruyven.
The leader after the first two days of the tournament, Italian Martina Valchepina, also remained behind in that race. But in the final, the Russian woman tried to accelerate too early and ended up fourth. The victory was won by the current absolute European champion Italian, the second place was taken by Schulting, the third - by the German Anna Seidel.
Efremenkova was content with the B final, despite a promising race in the semi-final, which actually ended in a loss difficult situation created by Fontana. Prosvirnova took advantage of the confusion, but fell on the turn - the judges considered that there were no violations on the Russian woman.
Prosvirnova was the only Russian representative in the Superfinal, which she won and placed third in the all-around with 49 points. Fontana has 84 points, while silver medalist Martina Valcepina has 70.
Sensational victory of Valchepina on the "one and a half"
The first medals at the European Championships were played on Saturday at a distance of 1500 meters. At first, the duel between Knegt and Yelistratov took place in the semifinals, which the Russian lost to his longtime opponent.
In the final, the representative of Israel Bykanov interfered with both, and Knegt was the first to overcome this “live” barrier, the second was Elistratov, but already before the last turn it was clear that the Dutchman was winning the first medal of the championship. Elistratov - the second, Bykanov - the third. Hayrapetyan tried to hold on to Elistratov but finished fourth.
Victor Ahn overdid it with tactics in the semi-finals, and when he was forced to “run to the fire”, he fell without violating the rules on either side and stopped the fight.
In the final of the women's "one and a half" Russia was represented by Efremenkova, who had a beautiful semi-final with two overtakes - first on the outer radius and then on the inner one, which allowed her to take the lead two laps before the finish line and break away from her rivals.
The Chelyabinsk short-track skater successfully started the final race and had real chances for gold. At the decisive moment, she tactically correctly blocked the path of Fontana, who was walking along the “big” track, but the Dutch Schulting went on the inside to overtake the Russian. Efremenkova had the skill not to give up the position in the most difficult situation, but Schulting broke the rules and “put” the Russian on the ice. The Dutchwoman was disqualified, Efremenkova - fifth place.
An unexpected victory due to incidents at a distance was won by Valchepina, the second - by the Dutchwoman Yara van Kerkhof, the third - not the strongest of the Hungarians, Sarah Luca Bachkai.
Prosvirnova, who got into the semi-finals in the race, which, with a different lot, could have been the final (among the participants are three Dutch women - Schulting, Lara van Ruyven and van Kerkhof, as well as Frenchwoman Veronique Pierron and Polish Natalia Malishevskaya), took third place and ended up only in the final B , where she finished first, followed by Konstantinova, who made mistakes in the semifinals.
Victor Ahn's only personal medal
On the same Saturday evening, the athletes competed for awards at a distance of 500 meters. The intrigue in the sprint began for the Russians in the quarterfinals, when Yelistratov and An got into the same race. Ahn, who knows how to “sit out” last until the critical moment, this time, after a failure on the “lorry”, acted more simply, took the lead, but two laps before the finish line he was overtaken by the Frenchman Thibault Fauconnet, who did not give up the first position until the end of the race. Ahn qualified from second place. Yelistratov became the third and did not even reach the semi-finals.
An eventually reached the final, where he fought to the last with both Knegt and the Frenchman Sebastien Lepape. Victor from circle to circle tried to close the gap from Knegt, but he retained a meager advantage. An has silver, Lepapa has bronze. Hayrapetyan fell in the quarterfinals.
Prosvirnova led the fight in the main final for gold, but the Italian duo Valchepin - Fontana was confidently ahead. Valchepina, who was lucky a little earlier on the "lorry", finished first, the more titled Fontana - the second, and Prosvirnova was pushed aside just before the finish line by the Dutch van Ruyven. As it turned out, in violation of the rules, so the Russian won bronze. Efremenkova and Konstantinova dropped out of the fight at the quarterfinal stage.
The head coach of the Russian short track team Andrey Maksimov assessed the team's performance in Dresden as quite good.
“To summarize, somewhere it worked out, somewhere it didn’t. Of course, the first final day was crumpled, the girls didn’t succeed at 1500 meters. On the second day they made up and put the final point in the relay. we were in the lead, but on the last day we won silver in the relay, and this is also not bad, - the coach told reporters. - The European Championship is one of the stages of preparation for Olympic Games. I hope everything goes well for us at the Olympics."
Yelistratov called his result in the all-around normal and added that he could improve before the Olympics.
"I always say that everything is fine with me, whether I win or not. We are on the right track. In the 3000m Superfinal, my task was to save my strength as much as possible, because I understood that in the individual all-around I would not win 100 percent, since Shinki definitely became the first," the athlete told RIA Novosti.
"My task was to keep my strength for the relay, because I was confident in the team, in the guys. I knew that we could win, and I told Andrei Ivanovich (Maximov) about this. I just saved my strength in the Superfinal. At this stage, the third a place in the all-around is a normal result for me. Before the Olympics, I can seriously improve," he added.
58 - Inside news page
The European Championship in short track, which ended on Sunday in Dresden, Germany, brought the Russian team one gold medal, four silver and three bronze medals.
3:04 15.01.2018
The European Short Track Speed Skating Championships, which ended on Sunday in Dresden, Germany, brought the Russian team one gold medal. On the last day of the competition, the Russian team became the first in the women's relay at a distance of 3000 m.
This gold was the only one for Russian team at the last tournament. Also, domestic short trackers have four silver and three bronze medals. Semyon Yelistratov came second in the 1000m and 1500m, Viktor Ahn won another silver in the 500m. Sofya Prosvirnova won two bronze medals (500m and all-around), Yelistratov also took third place in the all-around.
In the medal standings of the tournament in Dresden, the Russian team became the third, losing to the Netherlands team, which has five gold and two silver medals, and the Italian team (four gold and two silver). Russian short track skaters failed to repeat last year's success at the European Championships in Turin, Italy, where they won three gold, three silver and four bronze awards and won a medal.
"The national team has the resources to successfully perform at the Games"
Summing up the results of the tournament in an interview with TASS, Main coach national team Andrey Maksimov noted that the national team needs to work on tactics before the 2018 Games.
"The European Championship is one of the stages of preparation for the Olympics, we will not draw any conclusions yet. Before the Games, we need to do tactical work, and with physical condition we are fine. You can put an excellent mark when all the gold medals, and everything is fine with us," the specialist said.
On the first day of the European Championship, Russian short track skaters managed to win only two silvers and one bronze.
“On Saturday, we didn’t succeed with the girls at a distance of 1500 m - we were counting on prizes, but a number of tactical mistakes prevented them from taking part in the final. At 500 m everything seemed to work out well, Sonya [Prosvirnova] won bronze, but we we always want a little more. After returning home, we will analyze the championship, watch the videos and correct the mistakes we made here," Maksimov said.
On the eve of the European Championship, the Russian team held a training camp in South Korea. According to the President of the Russian Skating Union (SKR) Alexei Kravtsov, which he expressed to TASS, this fee affected the performance of domestic short track skaters in Germany.
“The national team performed well, but, of course, not brilliantly, as everyone is used to lately. Past championship Europe has become a certain stage of preparation for the Olympic Games, and this preparation was not easy, because the guys only returned from a rather intense training camp in Korea on December 31, they have not yet fully recovered, but there is a reserve in terms of physics," Kravtsov said.
"In individual distances, too, they performed quite confidently, not without mistakes, but the short track is a short track. In general, everything is fine," he said.
The final training camp before the Games for Russian short track skaters will be held in Seoul.
“I see that the guys at the training camp got it in those components that were questions during the World Cup. I hope that by the beginning of the Olympic Games the guys will add more, they have the resources for a successful performance in Pyeongchang,” summed up Kravtsov.
The 2018 Olympic Games will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25. The short track competition will take place from 10 to 22 February.
The final training camp before the Games for Russian short track skaters will be held in Seoul. “I see that the guys at the training camp got it in those components that were questions during the World Cup. I hope that by the beginning of the Olympic Games the guys will add more, they have the resources for a successful performance in Pyeongchang,” summed up Kravtsov.
The 2018 Olympic Games will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25. The short track competition will take place from 10 to 22 February.
In the German city of Dresden on January 14, 2018, the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships ended. On the last day of the competition, the Russian team became the first in the women's relay at a distance of 3000 m. This gold was the only one for the Russian team at the last tournament. Also, domestic short track skaters have four silver and three bronze medals. Semyon Yelistratov came second in the 1000m and 1500m, Viktor Ahn won another silver in the 500m. Sofya Prosvirnova won two bronze medals (500m and all-around), Yelistratov also took third place in the all-around.
In the medal standings of the tournament in Dresden, the Russian team became the third, losing to the Netherlands team, which has five gold and two silver medals, and the Italian team (four gold and two silver). Russian short track skaters failed to repeat last year's success at the European Championships in Turin, Italy, where they won three gold, three silver and four bronze medals and won the medal standings.
Summing up the results of the tournament, Andrey Maksimov, head coach of the national team, noted that the national team needed to work on tactics before the 2018 Games. “The European Championship is one of the stages of preparation for the Olympics, we will not draw any conclusions yet. Before the Games, we need to do some tactical work, but everything is in order with our physical condition. You can put an excellent mark when all the gold medals, and we are doing well, ”said the coach.
On the eve of the European Championship, the Russian team held a training camp in South Korea. According to the President of the Russian Skating Union (SKR) Alexei Kravtsov, this collection affected the performance of domestic short track skaters in Germany. “The team performed well, but, of course, not brilliantly, as everyone is used to lately. The past European Championship became a certain stage of preparation for the Olympic Games, and this preparation was not easy, because the guys only returned from a rather intense training camp in Korea on December 31, they have not yet fully recovered, but there is a reserve in terms of physics, ”Kravtsov noted.
