Short TrackShort Track - 2014
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After 12 years, Montreal returns to host the World Championships in short track. From this afternoon until Sunday 16, the city of Quebec will challenge the creme of the ice skating rink in short track. It will be the last international competition in 2014. Obviously, as happened at the Winter Games in Sochi, Italy wants to play a leading role in the World Championships. A big chunk of it will be up to the phenomenon of blue Arianna Fontana. The Valtellina, 23, has returned from a fantastic 2014, which culminated with the conquest of three Olympic medals, and is heralded as one of the possible protagonists expectations in Canada.
Friday 14 March 2014 7 minutes reading time
It will award a total of 10 world titles on the individual distances, equally divided between men and women. 500, 1000 and 1500 meters individual. To these, we add the brackets are male and female. And, of course, the most popular among the medals, the Allround, which rewards the best classified taking into account the sum of the points earned by individual athletes in previous individual tests. For the purposes of the title general, will be decisive for the Super Final, the equivalent of a final "round" individual (which will run you about 3000m) and will qualify the top eight skaters who have totaled the sum points better after three races on the classic distances. The race, however, will not assign titles.
Italy does not win a medal at the World Championships from the 2012 edition, when the Fountain made its hoard of metal with two silvers in the 500 and 3000 and a bronze in the overall standings. We must instead go back to 2007 (in Milan) to find the last man capable athlete on the podium male: about Nicola Rodigari, silver in the 1500s.
Even Rodigari compete in Montreal. Joining him Yuri Confortola, Tommaso Dotti, David and Anthony Lobello Viscardi, all veterans dall'Olimpiade 2014. The women who make up the fountain with the rest of the team will be Cecilia Maffei, Lucia Peretti and Elena Viviani. In addition the corresponding tests in the individual, the Italians will be called to the difficult test to confirm even the Olympic bronze obtained in Russia in the last month. They will have to do without the support of Martina Valcepina not convened.
An overview of the main favorites to win, sees the difficulty in finding a sample and a safe non-reappointment of a world champion. The reigning world champion among men is the Korean Sin Da-Woon. The Asia you will have to watch from the competition agguerritissima landlord's Charles Hamelin, back from the Olympics can be the protagonist, but "disappointed" (but with a gold honors in the 1500). Then, hierarchies seen in pole position after Sochi Victor An, strong Russian two individual Olympic titles (500, 1000 more than conquered relay) and four irises general bulletin board (and 18 total medals). The duo-An Hamelin make it very difficult the task of confirmation on the podium Kim Yun-Jae, silver at the World Championships in Debrecen in 2013.
In the women's reigns certainty that a new athlete will be rainbow. It will be absent champion 2013, the Chinese Wang Meng, blocked by an accident for which she was to forfeit in Sochi. The favorites, as well as Arianna Fontana, the duo are Korean Park Seung-Hi (silver 12 months ago, but already Allround Champion in 2010 and Olympic in the 1000 Olympics) and the youngest Shim Suk-Hee (bronze in office in the general ). Attention also to other European skaters: Jorien ter Mors (Netherlands) and Elise Christie (Great Britain): in January they beat our own continental championship in Fontana, in a competition with the exact same formula of the World. A look at the competition played by the blonde arrow Polaggia, just missing a gold (excluding the World Cup, with the first place in the 1000m in Kolomna) to complete a fantastic year. That the World Cup will be the icing on the cake? The numbers, condition and the talent to reach the finish line is not the shortage of.
The Program (Italian time) and Italians in the race in the first day, Friday 14. Races visible streaming from the link http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html
17:00 batteries 1500m women (Fontana, Viviani) any semi-finals (from 18:31) and final (19:18 hours)
17:31 hours battery 1500m men (Dotti, Confortola) any semi-finals (from 18:47) and final (ore19: 26)
19:49 hours battery 3000m relay women Italy (Fontana, Maffei, Peretti, Viviani)
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