Suzanne Schulting won the world title in the 1,500 meters at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Seoul. The 25-year-old short track star finished Saturday in an exciting final ahead of the South Korean title defender Choi Min-jeong and the Canadian Kim Boutin. Xandra Velzeboer won the gold in the 500 meters and colored the podium completely Dutch.
For Schulting it is her second world title in the 1,500 meters. The joy over her triumph “in the lion’s den” was great afterwards. “I beat the Olympic champion,” she said jubilant at the NOS. “I wanted that so badly. At this distance I knew it would be very difficult because the competition is so fierce.”
Velzeboer became world champion for the second year in a row in the 500 meters. The podium colored with Suzanne Schulting second and Selma Poutsma third all Dutch. Never before have three Dutch short track speed skaters occupied the World Cup podium.
In the men’s race, the Dutch failed to reach the podium in the 1,500 meters. Jens van ‘t Wout fell just outside with a fourth place, just ahead of Sjinkie Knegt who finished fifth.
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