- Alessandra Keller wins the overall World Cup for the second time thanks to an 8th place in the short track race in Mont-Sainte-Anne (CAN).
- The day’s victory also goes to a Swiss woman. Sina Frei triumphs in the short track like she did a week ago.
- In the men’s race, Lars Forster and Marcel Guerrini finished 4th and 6th in Victor Koretzky’s victory.
What was already almost certain before the race is now official: Alessandra Keller can call herself the overall World Cup winner for the second time after 2022. A 34th place would have been enough for the woman from Nidwalden to be crowned the best athlete of the year in the second to last race of the season on her own. The 28-year-old easily accomplished this and finished in 8th place in a controlled manner.
Double Swiss triumph
At the front of the race, three riders were able to break away slightly on the last of the 9 laps – including Sina Frei. The Swiss woman took the lead before the last corner and didn’t give it up on the home straight. For the silver winner in Tokyo, it was the second World Cup victory of her career a week after her premiere in Lake Placid (USA).
Behind the 27-year-old, the French Loana Lecomte and the British Evie Richards secured the other podium places. Savilia Blunk (USA) – Keller’s last remaining theoretical competitor in the fight for the overall World Cup – finished the race immediately ahead of Keller in 7th place.
Forster and Guerrini in the top 6
From a Swiss perspective, Nicole Koller (9th), Steffi Häberlin (19th), Jolanda Neff (25th), Seraina Leugger (30th), Linda Indergand (32nd) and Rebekka Estermann (38th) rounded off the excellent team result.
Meanwhile, the Swiss missed the podium in the men’s category. However, Lars Forster finished in a strong 4th place, 9 seconds behind. Marcel Guerrini was 2 seconds further back in 6th place. Filippo Colombo and Nino Schurter had to be content with places 19 and 25. Mathias Flückiger gave up the race for reasons unknown.
Koretzky with a record victory
Once again the strongest driver over the short distance was Victor Koretzky. The Frenchman won in the final sprint ahead of his compatriot Mathis Azzaro. Third place went to the South African Alan Hatherly. Thanks to his victory, Koretzky not only won the season’s short track classification, but also became the most successful short track driver in history. With his 8th victory in this category he left Mathieu van der Poel behind.