First Hungarian Overall World Title in Speed Skating

Shaoang Liu of Hungary was crowned overall champion at the 2021 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dordrecht, the Netherlands this Sunday – with a huge helping hand from his brother, Shaolin Sándor Liu.

As the tournament's website puts it, "the Liu siblings put on a tactical masterclass to help 22-year-old Shaoang seize overall gold, and 25-year-old Shaolin Sándor the silver."

Shaoang, who won the 500m on Saturday, started the day on the same number of points as Canadian veteran Charles Hamelin. But in the semi-final of the 1000m, Shaolin helped to eliminate Hamelin. A superb overtaking manoeuver on the outside unsettled the Canadian who was forced wide and didn’t qualify for the final.
Then, in the final, Shaolin Sándor blocked Shaoang’s next-closest opponent for the overall crown, Semen Elistratov (representing the Neutral Team due to Russia's doping ban) – before taking the lead and winning gold in the distance himself. Shaoang won silver in the 1000m and Italian phenomenon Pietro Sighel the bronze.
The 3000m Superfinal was all-important for the overall standings – and things got complicated. France’s Sebastian Lepape lapped the field twice to win the race, but Shaolin also lapped the field once with Dutch Itzhak de Laat, who finished second.
After the maths was done, Shaoang was declared overall winner, with 60 points. Shaolin Sándor had silver with 55, and Elistratov bronze with 44.
“There are no tactics, it’s just brother love,” Shaoang said. “It really works like that."
On the event's medal table, the Hungarian team finished second with three gold and three silver medals behind the Netherlands and ahead of Canada.