Christine NesbittWang Haofei
Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., captured the gold medal in the ladies 1,000m speed skating event in China on Saturday. It's her third straight win at that distance this season and her sixth individual World Cup victory of the year.
Nesbitt set a track-record time of 1:16.07 seconds, beating Heather Richardson of the United States by almost one-and-a-half seconds. Germany's Judith Hesse was almost two seconds off the pace.
"Christine skated probably technically one of her best races this season so far," said coach Mark Wild. "She just skated such a clean race, nice, low, powerful strides through the entire race."
"It was a quiet crowd in the oval, cheering on the Chinese athletes, but a gasp overcame the crowd when they saw (Nesbitt's) final time and how much she'd won by," Wild said. "It was pretty impressive not only to us but to everyone in the oval watching today."
Winnipeg's Cindy Klassen was fifth for her best result of the season in the 1,000m event. Brittany Schussler, also of Winnipeg, was seventh while Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg was 10th.
Nesbitt leads the 1,000m World Cup standings by 90 points over Richardson.
In the men's 500m race, Kang-Seok Lee of South Korea held off Japan's Joji Kato by just 15-100ths of a second to take the gold medal.
Jamie Gregg of Edmonton was the top Canadian, finishing eighth while Vincent Labrie of Saint-Romuald, Que., was 14th. William Dutton of Humboldt, Sask., placed 19th.
In the ladies 500m event, Sang-Hwa Lee of South Korea put an end to Jenny Wolf's four match winning streak, topping the German by a mere 5-100ths of a second to take the gold medal. Nao Kodaira of Japan was third.
Rempel was the top Canadian in 11th, missing the podium by less than 7-10ths of a second. Nesbitt finished 14th.
In the men's 1,000m race, Dutchman Stefan Groothuis took the gold medal ahead of Kyou-Hyuk Lee of South Korea. Compatriot Simon Kuipers finished third. The win moved Groothuis into top spot in the World Cup standings as American Shani Davis, who had won the first two races of the season, decided to skip the meet in China.
Fort St. John, B.C.'s Denny Morrison was the top Canadian in eighth while Philippe Ropel of Lachenaie, Que., was 12th in his best result of the season.
In the short-track event, Liam McFarlane of Medicine Hat, Alta., taking part in his first World Cup competition, was seventh in the men's 500-metre race. Andrea Do-Duc of Montreal was 10th in the women's competition.
"I had expectations to make the A final today," said McFarlane. "But overall, this is a great experience, I'm happy to be here with the team and to get this experience, I'm learning to adapt to the World Cup Circuit."
Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., was eighth in the 500 metres.
In the relay, the Canadian men - Hamelin, Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., Remi Beaulieu of Alma, Que., and Michael Gilday of Yellowknife - won their semifinal heat to advance to the final Sunday. The women's team, made of Jessica Gregg of Edmonton, Alta., Marie-Eve Drolet of Laterriere, Que., rookie Gabrielle Waddell of Red Deer, Alta., and Laurie Marceau of Dolbeau-Mistassini, Que., finished third behind teams from China and the Netherlands, and was eliminated.
In 1,500 metre action, Drolet was the strongest, with a 16th place. Waddell received a penalty for impeding while attempting a pass in her semi-final, and had to settle for 18th place. Marie-Andree Mendes-Campeau of Montreal slightly injured her shoulder during a fall Friday. She had some bad luck in Saturday's repechage final, when a Russian skater fell and brought her down with her. Hitting her shoulder once more, she was unable to finish the race and will sit out Sunday's races in order to give her injury a chance to heal in time for next week's World Cup event in Shanghai.
Olivier Jean wasn't able to make it through his semi-final, finishing sixth, for 15th place overall. Meanwhile, teammate Remi Beaulieu received a penalty for kicking out at the finish line of his semi-final, and he finishes 20th overall in the distance.
Files from the Canadian Press were used in this report